Storm Henri, less terrible than expected, left more than 110,000 inhabitants of the northeastern United States without power – archyworldys

More than 110,000 inhabitants of the North-East of the United States were deprived of power, Sunday, August 22, with the passage of the storm Henri. In detail, more than 72,000 people in the state of Rhode Island, 30,000 in Connecticut, and 10,000 in Massachusetts were without power, according to the site. poweroutage.us. As of Monday morning, that number had dropped below 70,000 people (55,000 in Rhode Island and 14,000 in Connecticut).

The storm hit the US coasts near Rhode Island at 12:15 p.m. (6:15 p.m. in Paris), according to the US National Weather Service. In its 5 p.m. local bulletin, the American Hurricane Monitoring Center, (NHC), announced that the storm was blowing with winds of up to 65 km / h, down from the previous day’s 120 km / h. at sea. Henri had been demoted in the morning from hurricane to tropical storm by the NHC.

“It’s important to monitor the situation and be prepared in your home and neighborhood. Make sure you have provisions for your household, including necessary medicines, food, water, and battery-powered radios in case of long power cuts ”, warned President Biden at a press conference at the end of the afternoon.

The northeastern United States is usually relatively untouched by such storms, which mostly affect states further south, such as Florida or Louisiana. As the surface of the oceans warms, hurricanes become more powerful, scientists say.

” We had a narrow escape “

While Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee claimed there was “Major floods” in some areas, the first reactions of some residents seem to indicate that the passage of the storm was not as bad as expected.

” We had a narrow escape “Newport resident James Kiker told Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying he had only seen “Little damage” in its area, with a few broken branches.

70 to 150 mm of precipitation was expected across the region, and up to 250 mm in places, according to the NHC, while the deterioration of the weather conditions had already pushed Saturday to the stop of the big concert organized in Central Park for mark them “Reunion” artists with New York audiences. In the afternoon, however, the NHC lifted all its alerts to coastal submersion.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the storm approached, adding that 500 National Guard troops had been mobilized to support efforts to respond to the storm. storm. The cultural and economic capital of the country still has in mind the painful memory of theHurricane Sandy, which killed 44 people in 2012.