Storm knocks out power, floods parts of Island
The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole left a calling card Friday, with powerful wind gusts knocking out electric service to thousands and flooded roads causing dozens of accidents in Nassau and Suffolk.
At its peak, LIPA reported more than 8,000 outages, and flooding closed sections of the Northern and Southern state and Grand Central parkways as well as parts of the Long Island Expressway, Hempstead Turnpike, Route 25A, Route 109 in Farmingdale and Route 110 in Huntington. Power outages had dropped to about 1,100 by about 6 p.m.
While Long Island's weather remained dreary for most of the day, officials had good news about the weekend.
National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Scalora said the weekend "should be dry and mostly sunny." He said, "The next chance of rain should be Monday."
The winds are expected to subside to 10 to 15 mph Saturday.
After driving rain flooded roads and wind gusts downed electrical lines and tree limbs Friday morning, the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole had shrunk to scattered showers by the afternoon.
Police reported dozens of accidents during the morning commute.
The storm dropped 4.64 inches of rain in Lynbrook, 3.21 inches in Wantagh and 2.84 inches in Northport, according to the weather service.
In addition, in the early morning, peak wind gusts of 51 mph occurred at LaGuardia Airport, 50 mph at Fire Island, 47 mph at Jones Beach, 45 mph in Farmingdale, 43 mph in Bayville and 38 mph in Islip.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported delays of more than three hours for arrivals into LaGuardia Airport. Kennedy was also delayed.
Southwest Airlines canceled five early-morning flights from Long Island-MacArthur Airport Friday. Southwest had canceled all flights from MacArthur on Thursday.
A high surf advisory remained in effect for Nassau County and the Shore Shore of Suffolk County until 6 a.m. Saturday.
The storm was blamed for five deaths in North Carolina on Thursday and a sixth in Pennsylvania on Friday - a woman who apparently drove her car into a rain-swollen creek before daybreak.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, investigators believe the crash victim may have veered off the road in Collegeville because floodwaters obscured her view of its edge, said Trooper John Dorazio.
The area is isolated and dark, Dorazio said, and the woman may have simply come upon water she didn't know was there.
With AP
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