Nor'easter brings new misery to US in wake of Sandy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/noreaster-new-misery-sandy

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A winter storm has brought snow, rain and strong winds to the north-east of the US, causing power outages in a region where hundreds of thousands are still in the dark following hurricane Sandy.

The nor'easter heaped fresh misery on thousands in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut whose homes were destroyed by Sandy on 29 October. About 22,000 homes and businesses from the Carolinas to New York lost power on Wednesday, joining the more than 640,000 customers who still lacked electricity from one of the biggest and costliest storms ever to hit the US. 

New York and New Jersey evacuated the most vulnerable coastal areas ahead of the storm, which was forecast to bring a high tide about 2ft above normal by early Thursday.

The storm also wreaked havoc with the evening commute out of New York City, leading the Long Island Rail Road to temporarily suspend all operations to the city's eastern suburbs and prompting authorities to close Penn Station in New York.

No major flooding was reported during the storm's first hours, though New York warned residents whose homes had flooded during Sandy to consider moving to friends' homes on higher ground or to city shelters.

Authorities warned weary residents not to ignore this storm's dangers. "You have to prepare for the storm that's coming in a few hours," the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, told residents. "I'm waiting for the locusts and pestilence next," he joked. 

The low-pressure weather system brought wind gusts of up to 65 miles per hour and could drop between 2 and 4 inches of snow on New York City, the National Weather Service said.

Ice pellets hit Long Island and the storm lifted wave heights to nearly 20ft off Nantucket, Massachusetts, according to AccuWeather.

Airlines cancelled more than 1,700 flights due to the rain and snow, with Newark airport reportedly facing the most cancellations.

New York City authorities said they distributed 1,500 space heaters to residents of coastal Broad Channel and Rockaway, two low-lying neighborhoods that were badly hit by Sandy's storm surge.

Many gasoline stations remained shut around the region, complicating residents' efforts to flee the new storm. 

The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, closed parks and beaches and temporarily halted outdoor construction ahead of the storm.