Tropical Storm Isaias Knocks Out Power for Over a Million Homes in New York, New Jersey Region -- 2nd Update

By Akane Otani

A man was killed by a falling tree branch in New York City and more than a million households in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were left without power on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Isaias barreled through the region.

Isaias unleashed torrential rain and powerful winds, knocking down power lines and trees, and disrupting transit service. The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to deliver up to 5 inches of rain in some parts of the region and possibly lead to flooding. Weather forecasters and state officials also warned of the potential for tornadoes to hit southeast New York, northeast New Jersey and southern Connecticut.

In Queens, a 60-year-old man sitting in the passenger seat of a car was killed at around 1:04 p.m. when a branch fell and struck the vehicle, New York Police Department officials said. No other storm-related injuries had been reported as of Tuesday afternoon, city officials said, but the city's 911 system was experiencing heavy call volume.

Around 1.4 million households in New Jersey, 486,000 households in New York and 211,000 households in Connecticut were without power, according to estimates provided by utilities for those states.

Most of the utilities were unable to provide estimates for when power would be restored. Consolidated Edison Inc., which provides electricity to New York City, said it was assessing damage from the storm.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency late Monday and urged state residents to stay off the roads and at home.

"If you are out on our roads and come across a flooded section, do not attempt to cross it. Turn around, don't drown," Mr. Murphy said on Twitter.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also warned residents to stay home.

"Between the rain, flooding potential, the winds and even a potential tornado -- that's a lot," Mr. de Blasio said at a press briefing on Tuesday. "Don't go outside if you don't need to during the high point of the storm."

City workers spent Monday preparing for the storm, laying sand bags and "tiger dams" -- flood barriers filled with water -- around a mile-long stretch of lower Manhattan that experts believed was particularly susceptible to flooding.

After making landfall in North Carolina late Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, Isaias generated multiple tornadoes in the state and in Virginia, causing at least one death and a number of injuries. While Isaias has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, officials warned that residents in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut should be on alert for potentially dangerous conditions.

New York City officials prohibited swimming at beaches on Tuesday, citing forecasts from the National Weather Service that ocean swells could be as high as 10 feet.

"While surfing will still be allowed, lifeguards will not be on duty, and we strongly urge all New Yorkers not to risk their lives by ignoring this directive," Mitchell J. Silver, commissioner of the city's Department of Parks & Recreation, said in a statement.

Staff at city-owned marinas also checked on water pumps and generators ahead of the storm. The facilities will have staff on site 24/7 during the storm, said Nate Grove, chief of waterfront and marine operations at the parks department.

Several tourist attractions and businesses announced on social media and online that they were closed for the day, including the Statue of Liberty National Monument and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. The New York Yankees, which had been scheduled to face off against the Philadelphia Phillies Tuesday evening at Yankee Stadium, postponed their game.

New York City's subway system said it was suspending most outdoor service and primarily running underground-only train lines until the storm passed because of trees falling on train tracks in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. New York City's ferry service and the tram connecting Manhattan and Roosevelt Island were suspended as of noon, while Metro-North Railroad suspended service on its Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines. NJ Transit suspended all rail service, citing overhead wire and signal issues.

Isaias is the second tropical storm to sweep through New York this summer. If it sustains its speed of 70 mile-per-hour gusts, it would be the strongest storm to hit New York since superstorm Sandy in 2012, which destroyed thousands of homes and caused widespread power outages.

Ben Chapman contributed to this article.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2020 16:44 ET (20:44 GMT)

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