Powerful storm batters US, 3 people dead

New York, Dec 19 (IANS) A powerful storm battered parts of the US East Coast and the Northeast, killing three people, knocking out power, washing out roads and prompting the evacuation of a community.

While two of the deaths were reported in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, where the storm system unleashed strong winds and dumped heavy rain throughout Monday, the third fatality occurred in South Carolina, which was hit by the storm over the weekend, reports CNN.

The storm system unleashed strong winds and heavy rain across the Northeast on Monday, dumping 2-4 inches of water over much of the region within 24 hours, with reports of more than five inches of water just northwest of New York City.

On Monday, the New York City Emergency Management temporarily closed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge linking Staten Island and Brooklyn; Throgs Neck Bridge linking Queens and Bronx and Cross Island Parkway between Northern Boulevard; and the Throgs Neck Bridge, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also reported suspension, rerouting or delays with multiple subways.

The Management said the city's power supplier Consolidated Edison, Inc. had over 10,000 customers without power.

There were 237 reports of downed trees across the city.

New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports and Boston's Logan International Airport have had around 400 flights cancelled, according to data from FlightAware.

Meanwhile, more than 4,700 flights were also delayed on Monday

Local governments in New York issued warnings and travel advisories in advance with about 5,000 utility crews deployed across the state.

In the Northeast, more than 660,000 customers were without power as of Monday night, according to poweroutage.us.

The vast majority of them were in Maine, where more than 420,000 customers were in the dark out of the more than 852,000 tracked.

In northern New Jersey, the mayor of Little Falls warned of potentially significant flooding in areas around the rising Passaic River and asked residents to evacuate their homes before midnight.

The National Weather Service projected the river will hit major flood stage in Little Falls by Tuesday, and authorities previously warned the flooding could be “catastrophic”, reports CNN.

In Maine and New Hampshire, there were multiple reports of water rescues, the National Weather Service said Monday.

The storm moved into Canada late Monday but its effects will linger.