TL;DR: Deadly slow-moving nor'easter floods coast, cuts power to more than 100,000

A slow-moving nor'easter stalled near the New Jersey shoreline on Sunday, 27 September 2026, killing a New York City Housing Authority worker on Saturday and leaving about 110,500 households without power from North Carolina to New England, according to The Guardian.

The storm delivered heavy rain, damaging winds, tidal flooding and dangerous surf from North Carolina to New England, including Boston and the New York City tri-state area, according to Weather.com.

Forecasters said conditions would gradually ease later on 27 September into early in the week, but tidal flooding would continue through high-tide cycles on Sunday night and officials warned that high tide late Monday could bring more flooding, according to PBS News.

Storm position and timing on 27 September

The early-season nor'easter lashed the East Coast for days and stalled around the Jersey Shore on Sunday, according to Weather.com.

The powerful system was drifting near the New Jersey coastline on 27 September and was expected to continue bringing coastal impacts and unsettled weather from the Mid-Atlantic to New England through 28 September, according to USA TODAY.

The National Weather Service predicted the storm would weaken over Sunday night with local heavy rain in parts of New England and the mid-Atlantic, according to PBS News.

The slow-moving storm was expected to linger through Sunday with heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous surf all the way to New England, according to The Associated Press reporting carried by NBC News.

Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said tidal flooding would stay through high-tide cycles Sunday night even as the storm gradually weakened, according to PBS News.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said there was another band of the storm, a weaker band, but still another band that could hit early Sunday afternoon and later into the evening, according to The Associated Press reporting carried by NBC News.

One death reported in New York

The slow-moving storm killed a New York City Housing Authority worker when a tree fell Saturday, according to The Associated Press reporting carried by NBC News.

New York City officials identified the worker as 56-year-old Leighton Brown, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority, according to USA TODAY.

The Guardian reported at least one person killed in the weekend storm.

Strong winds, heavy rain and flooding contributed to one death in New York, regional power outages and widespread travel disruptions, according to AccuWeather reporting cited by USA TODAY.

Power outages from North Carolina to Connecticut

About 110,500 households were still without power from North Carolina to New England on Sunday, according to The Guardian.

Well over 100,000 customers were without power across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic at times on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us data cited by PBS News.

The most widespread outages were in counties along the coast from New Jersey to Connecticut, according to PBS News.

Residents of coastal communities in the Northeast slogged through floodwaters for a second day as the nor'easter pummeled the shoreline Sunday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes, according to PBS News.

Wind gusts toppled trees on New York's Long Island, damaging homes and bringing down utility poles, according to PBS News.

Peak winds and rainfall totals

The highest recorded wind gusts since Saturday included 81 mph at Montauk Point, New York, 74 mph at Surf City, New Jersey, 71 mph at Block Island, Rhode Island, 70 mph at Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and 56 mph at New York City's JFK Airport, according to Weather.com.

Wind gusts reached 40 mph (64 kph) at Boston Logan International Airport by late Sunday morning, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority cited by PBS News.

Wind gusts topped 46 mph on Saturday in Surf City, New Jersey, according to Weather.com.

Rainfall totals since Saturday included 6.00 inches at Falmouth, Massachusetts, 5.33 inches at Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, 4.36 inches at Greenville, Rhode Island, and 2.06 inches at New York City's JFK Airport, according to Weather.com.

More than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain had fallen since Friday in some spots in New Jersey, according to PBS News.

More than 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain had fallen in some areas of Long Island since the storm began, according to the National Weather Service cited by PBS News.

The region around Long Beach Island, New Jersey, had seen over 3.5 inches of rainfall by Sunday, according to Weather.com.

The worst of the remaining rainfall was expected Sunday from northern New Jersey into southern New England, according to PBS News.

Tidal flooding and full-moon high tides

Tidal surges swamped low-lying neighborhoods in New Jersey, according to PBS News.

A full moon occurring during the weekend exacerbated the coastal flooding situation, according to Weather.com reporting cited by USA TODAY.

Flooding on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, inundated parts of the island with multiple feet of coastal flooding on Saturday as strong winds brought ocean waters ashore, according to Weather.com.

Videos showed people trudging through knee-deep or higher floodwaters in streets of towns along Long Beach Island, with flooding enhanced at high tide, according to Weather.com.

In the New Jersey beach town of Sea Bright, each high tide brought a new round of flooding, according to PBS News.

Caroline Virenius said her garage in Sea Bright filled with about a foot of water (30 centimeters), according to PBS News.

Carole Ann Palmer, who owns Jingles Bait and Tackle in North Beach Haven, New Jersey, said this was the worst flooding she had seen in 10 years, according to PBS News.

Palmer said the water kept getting higher and higher on Saturday, the front step was swept away, and she saw neighbors kayaking through the streets on Saturday, according to PBS News.

In New York City, water a few inches deep filled streets in the Howard Beach neighborhood on Sunday morning, according to PBS News.

Extreme rainfall combined with a surging ocean led to flooding amounts not seen for close to a decade in places used to dealing with high water, according to PBS News.

Images of waves crashing into sea walls and onto beaches raised concerns about coastal erosion, according to The Associated Press reporting carried by NBC News.

High-tide schedule for Sunday

Coastal flood watches and warnings remained in effect on Sunday, with coastal flooding remaining a concern especially during high tide cycles, according to Weather.com.

Listed high tide times for threatened cities on Sunday included 12:12 p.m. in Boston, Massachusetts, 8:40 p.m. in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 8:58 p.m. at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 8:59 p.m. in Newport, Rhode Island, 9:17 p.m. at The Battery in New York City, 10:11 p.m. at Montauk, New York, and 10:37 p.m. in New London, Connecticut, according to Weather.com.

Local officials in New Jersey and New York told residents that high tide late Monday could potentially bring more flooding, according to PBS News.

Weather.com said there was still a chance of coastal flooding Sunday evening, especially during high tide that night, but it should not be as bad as previously as winds eased.

New Jersey shore preparations and evacuations

Cars drove through a flooded road during the nor'easter in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, where a voluntary evacuation had been issued in the community on Saturday, according to The Guardian.

Bernard Dowd waded through tidal water Sunday to get to his Sea Bright home, a day after returning from work to find his basement filled up like a swimming pool, according to PBS News.

Dowd said new rules requiring homeowners to raise the height of their homes after Superstorm Sandy likely prevented worse damage around his neighborhood, according to PBS News.

Many residents around Sea Bright had lined homes and businesses with sandbags, according to PBS News.

The nor'easter triggered memories of Superstorm Sandy, which left behind over $60 billion in damage across the eastern U.S. in 2012, according to PBS News.

The current storm's impact was nowhere near that scale, but it could be the first of several along the East Coast this fall because of an El Niño climate pattern disrupting weather, according to PBS News.

Travel, flights and highway closures

Numerous flights were canceled or delayed up and down the coast, according to PBS News.

More than 250 flights had been canceled at Boston Logan International Airport by late Sunday morning, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority cited by PBS News.

After parts of North Carolina's Highway 12 were washed out on Thursday, much of the highway remained closed on Sunday, according to Weather.com.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation activated an emergency ferry service between Stumpy Point on the Dare County mainland and Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, accommodating vehicles and walk-on passengers, according to Weather.com.

Access to Hatteras Island was restricted to only essential personnel and permanent residents, according to Weather.com.

Major League Baseball moved its game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals from 3:05 p.m. to 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, according to Weather.com.

The Philadelphia Phillies' season-deciding finale at Citizens Bank Park was moved up a half-hour to 2:30 p.m., according to Weather.com.

The Chicago Cubs game against the Boston Red Sox, originally scheduled for Saturday at Fenway Park, was moved to Tampa, Florida, with first pitch at 3:05 p.m. Sunday because of the nor'easter forecast, according to Weather.com.

The New York Giants hosted the Tennessee Titans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday during gusty and rainy conditions, while the nor'easter was also expected to affect the Washington Commanders' home game against the Seattle Seahawks, according to Weather.com.

Other Sunday impacts in New England

A large piece of an old shipwreck washed ashore in Nantucket because of the nor'easter's storm surge, according to Weather.com.

The Nantucket Current reported the wreckage likely belonged to a wooden schooner named Warren Sawyer that wrecked in 1884, according to Weather.com.

A man photographed waves crashing against the seawall in Hampton, New Hampshire, on 27 September as the coastal storm battered the Northeast coast, according to PBS News.

A man drove down a flooded road along the south shore of Freeport, New York, on Long Island on 27 September, according to PBS News.

Sources referenced