Hurricane Lee tracker: Hurricane watch issued in New England as flooding threat to Boston, New York
![Hurricane Lee tracker: Hurricane watch issued in New England as flooding threat to Boston, New York Hurricane Lee tracker: Hurricane watch issued in New England as flooding threat to Boston, New York](https://i1.wp.com/static.independent.co.uk/2023/09/14/17/Screenshot%202023-09-14%20at%2011.55.53%20AM.png?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp&w=1200&resize=1200,1183&ssl=1)
Hurricane Lee downgraded to Category 3
Hurricane Lee was pounding Bermuda with high winds and dangerous surf early on Thursday as conditions deteriorated along much of the US east coast.
The monster hurricane is around 500 miles (nearly 800km) wide with winds reaching 100mph. Lee is moving north across the Atlantic at around 12mph, and is expected to gain speed through Saturday.
A hurricane watch spanned the US-Canada border including parts of New England and up into Nova Scotia. The Category 2 storm expected to make landfall in Maine or Nova Scotia this weekend.
The center of Lee will pass west of Bermuda into tonight, approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday, and move across Atlantic Canada on Saturday night and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center reported.
Forecasters warned of storm surge and tide leading to coastal and inland flooding. If peak storm surge occurs at high tide, parts of Cape Cod could see up to 4ft of flooding while Boston Harbor could experience up to 3ft.
And it won’t just be in New England as parts of New York are also under threat. Montauk and the Long Island Sound could see up to 3ft of flooding along with Flushing in Queens, while the Rockaways could see 2ft.
US sets record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year — and there’s still 4 months to go
The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia’s watery storm surge helped push the United States to a record for the number of weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more. And there’s still four months to go on what’s looking more like a calendar of calamities.
And NOAA’s count doesn’t yet include Tropical Storm Hilary’s damages in hitting California and a deep drought that has struck the South and Midwest because those costs are still to be totaled, said Adam Smith, the NOAA applied climatologist and economist who tracks the billion-dollar disasters.
Martha Mchardy13 September 2023 15:00
State of emergency declared in Maine ahead of Hurricane Lee’s arrival
Officials in Maine have declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Lee’s arrival in the northeast.
“We continue to closely track the storm and expect heavy rains and high winds that likely will cause storm surge, flooding, infrastructure damage, and power outages,” Governor Janet Mills said in a social media post on Thursday. “We continue to strongly urge Maine people – particularly those Downeast – to exercise caution and to take steps to ensure they have what they need to stay safe as the storm draws closer.”
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 09:00
National Weather Service shares photo of gargantuan Hurricane Lee
The National Weather Service office serving Portland, Maine, shared an image showing the size of Hurricane Lee as it approaches the US east coast.
Hurricane Lee is expected to produce tropical storm force winds along the US east coast in the coming days, and Bermuda has already closed schools for Thursday and Friday as it feels the effects of the passing storm.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 08:00
Sinkhole swallows cars in wake of Massachusetts flooding in Massachusetts
A trio of cars were left dangling on the edges of a sinkhole outside a dealership in Massachusetts following severe flooding in the area earlier this week.
The sinkhole opened up in the city of Leominster after heavy rains destabilised the ground and opened up a 15-foot deep chasm.
Public works crews expressed concerns that the flood and subsequent sinkhole might have weakened the foundation of a home near the affected area. The couple living in the house were forced to leave on Monday night.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 07:00
Massachusetts urges residents to prepare for storm’s arrival
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency issued a checklist of preparations for residents on Thursday as Hurricane Lee is expected to bring “life-threatening” conditions to parts of the state.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 06:00
Watch: Preparing for Hurricane Lee
Preparing for Hurricane Lee
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 04:59
Bermuda suspends ferries and shuts schools amid impacts from Hurricane Lee
The government of Bermuda shared updates on safety measures as Hurricane Lee began to impact the island early on Thursday.
Schools were closed on Thursday and Friday, and citizens were asked to stay off the roads.
Ferry services had also been suspended and L.F. Wade International Airport in St George’s was closed at noon.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 04:00
Pictured: The vast scale of Hurricane Lee captured from space
A satellite image, from 8am (eastern) on Thursday, shows Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic Ocean.
Lee looks poised to wallop New England even as the region still deals with the impact of days of wild weather that produced torrential rain, flooding, sinkholes and a likely tornado.
This Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, 7:51 a.m. EDT satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic Ocean. Lee looks poised to wallop New England later this week even as the region still deals with the impact of days of wild weather that produced torrential rain, flooding, sinkholes and a likely tornado. (NOAA via AP)
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 03:00
‘Life-threatening’ storm surge warnings
Thursday morning storm surge warnings from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) at 11am Thursday for Massachusetts and New York are as follows:
“The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” NHC reported.
“The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide.” – Chatham, MA to Sagamore Beach, MA: 2-4 ft
– Sagamore Beach, MA to Border of US/Canada:1-3 ft
– Flushing, NY to Chatham, MA:1-3 ft
– Montauk Point, NY to Flushing, NY: 1-3 ft
– Long Island Sound: 1-3 ft
– Martha’s Vineyard: 1-3 ft
– Rockaway Inlet, NY to Montauk Point, NY: 1-2 ft
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 02:00
Earth is outside its ‘safe operating space for humanity’ on most key measurements, study says
Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said.
Earth’s climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and “novel” chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances.
Only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air and the ozone layer are within the boundaries considered safe, and both ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction, the study said.
“We are in very bad shape,” said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
“We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick.”
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 01:00