Live updates: New Jersey reports heavy rains, street floods - ABC News

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Tropical Storm Henri was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, and made landfall near Westerly, R

August 22, 2021, 8:03 PM

4 min read

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. -- The latest developments on Tropical Storm Henri and its impacts on the Northeast:

4 p.m.

Storm-related flooding from Henri has caused major delays in the Hartford suburb of Wethersfield along Interstate 91 northbound, a major artery through Connecticut’s capital city.

Brian Foley, special assistant to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, tweeted that traffic was reduced to one lane and there were multiple accidents.

Traffic cameras showed numerous vehicles backed up. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Twitter urged motorists to “avoid the area while crews work to address the situation.”

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3:30 p.m.

Tropical Storm Henri was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, and made landfall near Westerly, R.I., Sunday afternoon with sustained winds of about 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Henri has since weakened to sustained winds of 50 mph as it moves inland.

There were few early reports of major damage due to wind or surf, but officials warned of the danger of spot flooding in inland areas over the next few days.

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2:30 p.m.

Towns throughout New Jersey reported heavy rains and street flooding beginning Saturday night. Some places got as much as 8 inches (20 centimeters) by midday Sunday.

Television video footage showed some spots where flash flooding or overflowing brooks had left numerous cars stranded, some with water up to their windows.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy told News 12NJ that the storm in the state had so far been a rain event but “a big rain event.” He said the state had been spared very windy conditions although the winds may pick up later. “It’s a good day to stay home,” he said, urging people to stay off the roads.

Marshall Shepherd, director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia and former president of the American Meteorological Society, said Henri was reminiscent in some ways of Hurricane Harvey, a slow-moving storm that decimated the Houston area in 2017, exacerbated when bands of rain set up east of the city, a phenomenon meteorologists call “training.”

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1:30 p.m.

Rhode Island has reopened major bridges in the state to traffic but restrictions remain in place for some vehicles.

All roads to the beach community of Misquamicut remain closed because of wind-driven flooding. Misquamicut is a small cluster of beach hotels and vacation cottages and was heavily damaged by storm surge during Superstorm Sandy.

The National Weather Service's Boston office has reported about 75,000 customers without power in Rhode Island, about 20,000 customers out in Connecticut and nearly 6,900 customers out in Massachusetts.

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12:30 p.m.

Tropical Storm Henri has made landfall in Rhode Island.

The National Hurricane Center says Henri came ashore in the coastal town of Westerly around 12:30 p.m. It had earlier passed over Block Island, a small but popular tourist island 13 miles (21 kilometers) offshore in Block Island Sound.

Henri was packing maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour), and it was producing 19-foot (5.8-meter) waves in some places just before making landfall.

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12:15 p.m.

Rhode Island has shut down major bridges in the state due to high winds.

All roads to the beach community of Misquamicut have been closed by authorities because of wind-driven flooding. Misquamicut is a small cluster of beach hotels and vacation cottages and was heavily damaged by storm surge during Superstorm Sandy.

The state is stitched together by bridges so shutting them down may mean people are trapped where they are until the storm passes.

National Grid is reporting 74,000 customers without power in Rhode Island and EverSource is reporting nearly 20,000 customers out in Connecticut.

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7:40 a.m.

Henri weakened slightly to a tropical storm early Sunday as it edged closer to landfall.

Millions of people on New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages.

Henri was on course to crash into a long stretch of northeastern coastline by midday Sunday. The center of the storm was projected to pass over the eastern tip of Long Island.

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Live updates: New Jersey reports heavy rains, street floods - ABC News

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