Large portions of New Jersey and New England remained flooded until Tuesday, December 19, 2023. This has led to hundreds of thousands of people going without power a day after a storm swept through a large portion of the Northeast region.
As of Tuesday, Maine had borne the brunt of the power outage with more than 325,000 reported cases, while Massachusetts was next in line, recording 85,000 outages.
Residents of Connecticut were also affected, with over 10,000 power outage cases yet to be resolved. Power restoration efforts are on the way now after being delayed due to the poor state of the weather.
The chaotic storm, which started brewing on Saturday, led to Flash Flood emergencies across the South Carolina Coast on Sunday.
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Maine’s Governor, Janet Mills, declared a State of Civil Emergency for 14 out of Maine’s 16 counties. She explained further on Twitter (now X). “This will ensure that every State resource is available to communities across Maine in need of assistance. It also positions Maine to seek Federal disaster support.”
Several individuals severely damaged their property. Several cars have been reported missing, and fallen trees, flooding, and wind-blown debris have damaged a few houses.
All inbound and outbound flights were pushed forward, and even some school districts in affected areas have postponed classes due to the power outage.
On Monday, the storm unleashed strong winds, and the rainfall level rose as high as 5 inches in parts of New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. By Tuesday morning, the Androscoggin River flowing through southern Maine and northern New Hampshire had hit a whopping 22 feet, 7 feet more than the flood stage.
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Addressing this, the National Weather Service said, “At 20.6 feet, this is a 100-year flood.” The weather service also reported the Kennebec River measured 13 feet above its flood stage and was expected to rise another foot before receding.
The authorities have confirmed the death of at least 5 people, and reports indicate two people are missing. WCBD reports that an unidentified person drowned and died on Sunday when their car flooded in Mount Pleasant, California.
Lancaster authorities also reported a 73-year-old man dead on Monday after his body was found submerged in a vehicle trapped in floodwaters in West Earl Township.
A wind-blown tree reportedly killed two other men on Monday: A tree hit a 40-year-old man while he was trying to clean the debris off his roof in Maine, and a tree fell right in another man’s own home in Hanover, hitting him.
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A local newspaper also reported that Catskill Creek in Catskill, New York swept a 76-year-old woman’s vehicle in, killing her.
Reports indicate that flood waters in Mexico swept away a car carrying two people who are now missing. Another car, carrying four people, also got swept away while attempting to cross the Red Bridge into Rumford. Two of these four passengers remain unaccounted for, while the other two survived.
Although the storm has long moved on, the resulting damage remains as residents grapple to come to terms with the losses incurred.
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