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A nor'easter kills one worker and floods coastal towns from New Jersey to New England
September 28, 2026
A slow-moving nor'easter floods coastal towns from New Jersey to Connecticut, cuts power to well over 100,000 customers and kills a New York City Housing Authority worker.
The storm is a slow-moving nor'easter striking the Northeast in a fall that an El Niño climate pattern is disrupting, and coastal towns such as Sea Bright, New Jersey, are used to dealing with high water.
Key facts
- PowerOutage.us counted well over 100,000 customers in the dark at points on Sunday across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
- A tree fell on Saturday and killed a worker for the New York City Housing Authority, and forecasters expected the slow storm to stay through Sunday, bringing rain, wind and rough surf as far as New England.
- Officials in New Jersey and New York warned that the high tide late Monday could flood streets again.
- Shallow water covered streets in Howard Beach, a New York City neighborhood, yet residents still went out on Sunday morning to buy coffee.
- On Sunday Bernard Dowd walked through tidal water to reach his home in Sea Bright, one day after returning from work to a basement that had “filled up like a swimming pool.”
AP News reports that a falling tree on Saturday killed a worker for the New York City Housing Authority, and that the slow storm then held heavy rain, strong winds and rough surf over the coast into Sunday. The Guardian carries the same account. Outages hit hardest in coastal counties between New Jersey and Connecticut, and AP News cites PowerOutage.us for well over 100,000 customers without power at times on Sunday. CBS News also puts the outages at 100,000 customers.
In Sea Bright, a New Jersey beach town, AP News and The Guardian describe fresh flooding with every high tide. Bernard Dowd waded home through tidal water on Sunday after finding his basement flooded the day before. Bernard Dowd said, “I’m always thinking they are hyping the storm.” In the Howard Beach neighborhood of New York City, shallow water covered streets, yet residents still went out for coffee on Sunday morning.
The accounts diverge on rainfall. One account puts it at more than 4 inches since Friday in some New Jersey spots, with flooding residents had not seen in close to a decade; another account carries different figures. The New York Times describes a storm that is losing strength but still poses a danger. Officials across both states warned that the late Monday high tide could flood streets again, and AP News ties the storm to an El Niño pattern, saying more could follow on the East Coast this fall. The death, the outages and the tidal flooding are settled; the rain totals and the Monday tide are not.
Bernard Dowd said, “I’m always thinking they are hyping the storm.”
Bernard Dowd
Still developing
The rain amounts since Friday in some New Jersey spots do not close, and the figures do not line up between the accounts. Parts of the account were still forming at the time of this draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- AP News — Powerful nor’easter floods Northeast again, causing problems from New Jersey to New England - seattletimes.com
- CBS News — At least 1 dead as powerful, slow-moving nor'easter causes flooding, power outages to NYC, Long Island, New Jersey - CBS News
- The New York Times — Nor’easter Weakens but Remains a Threat - The New York Times
- The Guardian — Nor’easter storm floods coastal areas from New Jersey to New England
Toggle read the full reports of all 5 outlets counted on this event.