The governors of Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island began making emergency preparations on Saturday as Hurricane Henri barreled toward New England.
The latest: People began fleeing affected communities on Saturday evening — with authorities issuing a mandatory evacuation order for some residents near the water in Madison, Connecticut, while those on Fire Island were urged to evacuate on Saturday evening, per AP.
Driving the news: A hurricane warning was in effect for the South shore of Long Island from Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, the north shore of Long Island from Port, Jefferson Harbor to Montauk Point, New Haven Connecticut to the west of Westport Massachusetts and Block Island.
- Henri was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph some 335 miles south of Montauk Point, New York at 5p.m., per the National Hurricane Center.
- Henri is forecast to bring an array of potentially deadly threats, including storm surge flooding that could peak between 3 and 5 feet above normally dry ground, from Long Island (including Long Island Sound) all the way east to Nantucket.
- The hurricane's biggest dangers will likely be in the form of water, from coastal storm surge to inland flooding from heavy rainfall.
Details: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency declaration Saturday for Long Island, New York City, Hudson Valley, Westchester and the Capital District region.
- He also called up 500 National Guard members to respond to likely flooding, along with 1,000 law enforcement officials who will be on duty in the affected areas.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency for the city Saturday afternoon.
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) called up 200 National Guard members, according to the Hartford Courant.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal said members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency are staging supplies across the region, such as food, medicine and generators from the military base in Westover, Massachusetts, per the Courant.
- Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee signed an emergency declaration Friday ahead of Henri’s landfall, and said during a press briefing Saturday that five shelters across the state will open at approximately 8 p.m. He recommended that residents prepare for power outages and get supplies as soon as possible.
The big picture: President Biden spoke by phone on Saturday with Northeastern Governors, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
- On the call, per the White House, Criswell "discussed the resources and supplies that FEMA is pre-positioning in the region, including over 700 response personnel, meals, tarps, and generators."
- "They also discussed what the utility companies are doing to prepare for the potential for widespread power outages, including by moving additional line and tree crews and other equipment from outside the affected region where assistance can be surged from if needed," according to the readout of the call.
- "The President made clear that states have the full support of the Federal government to aid local emergency response efforts."
What's next: Henri is forecast to intensify throughout the day, peaking at Category 1 intensity with about 85 mph maximum sustained winds by Saturday night. Its winds are likely to weaken rapidly once the storm moves inland, but the heavy rain and flooding will persist.
Go deeper: Hurricane Henri poised to strike New England with storm surge, inland flooding, damaging winds
Editor's note: This post has been updated to include Biden's R.I. emergency declaration approval, the path of Henry at 5p.m., details of evacuations, and to correct the spelling of Lamont's last name.
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August 22, 2021 at 06:30AM
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New England governors ready emergency responses as Hurricane Henri nears - Axios
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