Deadly storm sends water levels skyrocketing on Northeast rivers and at the coastforcing evacuations

A powerful storm that battered a large swath of the eastern USknocking out power across several states and leading to multiple rescuesdelivered its final blow to New England Wednesday. Here’s the latest:

• Swollen waterways force evacuations: Multiple rivers were at major flood stage in the eastern US Wednesdaymost of them in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Flooding forced evacuations in New Jersey and in Connecticutwhere the Yantic River came perilously close to hitting a record high level and a dam was damaged.

• Storm turns deadly: At least four deaths were reported in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina as storms walloped the states with fierce windsrain and tornadoes. An 81-year-old woman was among them after her CottonwoodAlabamamobile home was flipped multiple times Tuesdayaccording to Houston County Commission Chairman Brandon Shoupe.

• Widespread power outages amid cold temperatures: The number of power outages dropped as the storm moved awaybut more than 120,000 homes and businesses were in the dark Wednesday night in the eastern USprimarily in New YorkPennsylvaniaNew JerseyVermont and Maineaccording to PowerOutage.us. And high temperatures in the Northeast were expected to top out only in the 30s and 40s Wednesdayleaving many without power in frigid weather.

• Tornado reports and damage left behind: The storm generated 25 tornado reports across TexasAlabamaFloridaGeorgia and South Carolina since Monday. In South Carolina“significant damage” from a potential tornado was reported in the city of Bamberg60 miles south of Columbia, where the century-old City Hall building collapsedaccording to city clerk-treasurer Robin Chavis.

Flights canceled: More than 1,350 flights were canceled and more than 8,700 flights were delayed on Tuesdayaccording to data from FlightAware. Some of those are due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9but thunderstorms caused significant disruptions in AtlantaDallas-Fort WorthFlorida and North Carolina airports.

• Dangerous driving conditions: In Iowaa section of Interstate 80 had to be closed down Tuesday afternoon due to whiteout conditions that led to a multi-vehicle crash. In Kansasaround 30 peopleincluding childrengot stranded and had to be rescued from vehicles and taken to a high school during blizzard and whiteout conditions Monday.

Another storm is coming: A storm much like this one is set to hammer many of the same areas with all hazards Friday and Saturday. The storm will take a similar pathmeaning severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are once again possible in the Southeastsnow is possible in the Midwest and rain and wind will once again return to the East Coast.

In the storm’s path? Bookmark CNN’s lite site for fast connectivity on low bandwidth.

River flooding triggers evacuationsthreatens dam

The river flood threat was increasing in parts of the Northeast Wednesday morningeven as the rain ended.

Heavy rain Tuesday night sent water levels skyrocketing by more than 10 feet in 12 hours on Connecticut’s Yantic River.

The river reached its highest level in more than 40 years early Wednesday morning and damaged a dam. The dam has not been breached or collapsedbut is “failing,” a Connecticut Emergency Management and Homeland Security official told CNN

Evacuations were ordered near NorwichConnecticutfor areas bordering the riverConnecticut emergency management said on Xformerly Twitter. A precautionary evacuation was also in place for BozrahConnecticut.

A nearby power substation was pulled offline in order “to avoid potentially catastrophic damage to our infrastructure,” the Norwich Public Utilities wrote in a Facebook statement.

More than 5,000 people were without power Wednesday morningwhich cannot be restored until river flooding easesutility spokesperson Chris Riley told CNN.

River gauges on the Pompton and Saddle rivers in northern New Jersey also reached major flood stage on Wednesday morning.

Some residents in OaklandNew Jerseywere forced to evacuate their homes Wednesday morning due to significant flooding from a nearby lakeaccording to local officials. The flooding occurred just north of where the Pompton River hit major flood stage.

Portions of the state’s Passaic River are also forecast to hit major flood stage by Wednesday night when floodwaters begin to crest.

River levels will remain elevated across much of the East this week and will likely be on the rise again once the next storm arrives at the end of the week and early weekend.

Historic coastal flooding hits East Coast

Strong winds in excess of 50 mph blowing onshore Wednesday morning across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic coupled with high tides caused significant storm surge and floodingwith water levels reaching historic high levels at multiple locations along the coast.

Water levels surged to their highest on record Wednesday morning in Philadelphia and Bar HarborMaine. A gauge in PortlandMainerecorded its third-highest water level.

Dangerous storm surge flooding unfolded across the southern Maine coast Wednesday.

“I haven’t seen storm surge like this in years,” WellsMainePolice Chief Jo-Ann Putnam told CNN.

“We have a lot of debris on the roads and water has come up through the homes,” Putnam added.

Just north of Wells in Kennebunkofficials strongly discouraged travel along the coastsharing dramatic video of water surging onshore at high tide as large waves crashed in the distance.

In the mid-AtlanticAnnapolisMarylandrecorded its third-highest water level on record sending floodwater into the city.

Downtown businesses were surrounded by as much as 18 inches of floodwater Wednesday morninga city spokesperson told CNN.

CNN Meteorologists Taylor Ward and Brandon Millerand CNN’s Sara SmartRob FrehseAmy SimonsonJillian SykesJamiel LynchIsabel RosalesWes BruerChris BoyetteGregory WallacePete Muntean and Nic F. Anderson contributed to this report.

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