Powerful storm cuts power, grounds planes across Northeast

Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Sep 26, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A powerful nor’easter has knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the Northeast, grounding hundreds of flights and prompting state leaders to declare emergencies. Two weekend concerts by pop star Ed Sheeran at Gillette Stadium outside Boston were canceled as a precaution.

High winds battered the coast from Delaware to Massachusetts early on Saturday, and conditions will start to get worse in New York City as the day wears on, said Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center.

Storm surges are expected to raise ocean levels by 3 feet along the New Jersey and New York coast, and even higher across New England. Tonight’s full moon will make things worse by raising tides even higher.

“The worst effects of it are tonight into Sunday morning, anywhere from southern New England west across Long Island toward New York City,” Oravec said. “The coastal flooding will be the biggest flooding impact for this.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared an emergency in New York City and the surrounding areas on Friday as the storm developed, and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill did the same for her state. From Massachusetts to Maryland, 76,097 homes and businesses were without power as of 7:15 a.m. ET, with areas in Queens, Long Island and along the New Jersey coast among the hardest-hit, according to Poweroutage.com. Trees are especially vulnerable as they still have their leaves, which could lead to falling branches that down more power lines.

Meanwhile, workers in New York City were preparing for uprooted trees and clogged catch basins in anticipation of flooding, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.

“We’re expecting dangerous coastal flooding, strong winds and potential power outages through the weekend,” Hochul said in a statement. “Take this storm seriously.”

The Global Citizens Festival in New York’s Central Park and the All Things Go NYC music and culture festival were also called off.

Across the U.S., 388 flights were canceled, mostly from Boston’s Logan International Airport and other Massachusetts fields, FlightAware said. At least 26 flights were also canceled from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Ground stops and delays were likely in Philadelphia, Newark, Washington, and at John F. Kennedy International Airport as well, the Federal Aviation Administration said on its website.

National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings and watches, including for New York City, where it said tides may come in up to three feet higher than normal at the Battery, at the southern end of Manhattan, and waves as high as 12 feet (3.6 meters) may crash into the shoreline in Brooklyn and Queens through Sunday. Up the coast in New England, wind gusts in Boston may reach 60 miles (97 km) per hour.

New Jersey Transit suspended River Line service along the Delaware between Florence and Cass Street stations south of Trenton. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has suspended some commuter ferries in Boston Harbor and the sounding area.

Oravec said the storm will remain intense in New York and New England through Sunday but will have weakened by Monday morning when commuters face a return to the office.

———

(With assistance from Lauren Rosenthal, Sarah Rabil, Brooke Sutherland and Greg Ryan.)