HARWICH, Mass. - As the remnants of Hurricane Noel brushed parts of the Northeast with strong winds and heavy rain Saturday, Heinz Proft sat back and watched the boats moored to the docks rocked back and forth.
The assistant harbormaster in Harwich, on Cape Cod, had taken advantage of the ample warning and had tied the boats down with extra lines.
"It's a lot easier to do it the day before than scrambling during the rain and wind," he said.
Coastal flood warning and flood watches were in effect up and down the New England coast, with up to 5 inches of rain expected on Cape Cod, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson.
High wind warnings were in effect for coastal New Jersey, the eastern tip of New York's Long Island, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. Sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph were expected along most of the coast, with up to 70 mph winds possible along the coast of Maine. On Cape Cod and the coastal islands, isolated gusts could reach 90 mph, the weather service said.
Although the center of the storm was expected to pass about 90 miles east of Nantucket on Saturday night, the high wind knocked down tree limbs and caused power outages. Glenn Beasley, executive director of the Cape Cod and Islands chapter of the American Red Cross, said shelters were opened in Sandwich, Hyannis, Dennis and on Nantucket.
The weather service also posted a winter storm watch for northwestern Maine, where rain was expected to change to snow during the night.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement