The northeastern U.S. is bracing for its first direct hit from a hurricane in years as Hurricane Henri continued to barrel north Saturday.
The …
The northeastern U.S. is bracing for its first direct hit from a hurricane in years as Hurricane Henri continued to barrel north Saturday. The system, which was upgraded to a hurricane with winds of 75 mph as of 2 p.m. Saturday, is forecast to slam into Long Island or southern New England late Saturday or early Sunday at or near hurricane strength, with winds that could approach 80 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for parts of New York, including Long Island, New York City and Hudson Valley. He asked people to take warnings seriously at a Saturday news conference. Threatening to bring damaging winds, as much as 8 inches of rain and up to 5 feet of storm surge, Henri could be the first significant hurricane to affect the region in years. „This is the most serious hurricane risk in New England in 30 years, since Hurricane Bob in 1991,“ AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jon Porter said. Bob was a Category 2 storm that killed at least 17 people. Hurricane and storm surge warnings were in effect for portions of Long Island and southern New England, the National Hurricane Center said. Over 5 million people live where a hurricane warning is in place, the National Weather Service reported. „Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,“ the Hurricane Center said. Tropical storm warnings were also issued for much of southern New England, Long Island and southern New York, including New York City itself. In all, some 35 million people were under tropical storm warnings as of Saturday morning. Henri was centered Saturday afternoon about 210 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and about 395 miles south of Montauk Point, New York.
