Long Island and New England Prepare for Rare Hurricane Strike

As Hurricane Henri churned up the East Coast connected Saturday, communities from New York City to Boston prepared for what would beryllium the archetypal hurricane to marque landfall connected Long Island oregon successful New England successful astatine slightest 30 years.

The politician of Massachusetts activated members of the National Guard to marque high-water rescues and wide debris. New York City suspended outdoor eating and closed beaches for swimming. And Connecticut powerfulness companies said downed trees whitethorn permission hundreds of thousands of customers without energy for arsenic agelong arsenic 3 weeks.

Henri was projected to marque landfall connected Long Island oregon successful confederate New England arsenic a Category 1 tempest connected Sunday afternoon, though its precise way remained uncertain.

Dangerous tempest surges from Henri, which strengthened into a hurricane with 75-mile-per-hour winds connected Saturday morning, were projected successful parts of Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. But adjacent if it were to swerve toward New York City, a repetition of the harm from Hurricane Sandy was unlikely.

Residents were inactive scrambling to hole connected Saturday, with the Suffolk County executive, Steven Bellone, calling connected visitors and residents of Fire Island, which lies connected the confederate enactment of Long Island, to voluntarily evacuate.

“If they bash not permission the land today, they volition beryllium stuck,” helium warned.

Scott Hirsch, the longtime proprietor of the Island Mermaid successful Ocean Beach, a conception of Fire Island, said the edifice began to unopen down aboriginal connected Saturday morning. “It’s not our archetypal clip astatine the creation present with worldly similar this,” Mr. Hirsch said, earlier adding, “This one’s moving connected a scarier pattern.”

Southampton planned to contented a voluntary evacuation bid affecting 6,000 people, said the municipality supervisor, Jay Schneiderman, who expected different towns successful the Hamptons to travel its lead. “We don’t get that galore hurricanes,” helium said.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, connected 1 of his last days successful office, said astatine a quality league that the evolving forecasts — it looked earlier similar Henri mightiness deed the Boston country much straight — meant determination was little clip for officials and residents to prepare.

“I recognize we didn’t person the buildup that we had with Superstorm Sandy,” Mr. Cuomo said of the 2012 storm, noting that New Yorkers person had lone a time of warnings. “Don’t beryllium deceived by that. It’s due to the fact that the trajectory of the tempest changed.”

The politician said that New Yorkers should expect formation cancellations, and that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was preparing to cancel immoderate Long Island Rail Road work by midnight connected Saturday. Amtrak announced that work betwixt New York and Boston and betwixt New Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., would beryllium canceled connected Sunday and that work betwixt Washington and New York would continue.

Officials warned of imaginable unsafe tempest surges successful parts of the Bronx and bluish Queens, and Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to postpone different unnecessary travel. “I’m telling each New Yorkers: Stay location tomorrow,” helium said.

Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut said the authorities was monitoring nursing homes successful lawsuit evacuations were needed. With 8 inches of rainfall possible, the coastal towns of New Haven, Branford, Guilford and Groton recommended that residents connected streets closest to the h2o voluntarily evacuate.

Tropical Storm Isaias caught galore successful Connecticut by astonishment past year. The powerfulness companies did not person capable restoration oregon histrion crews mobilized, leaving the authorities astir paralyzed for much than a week. Seven 100 50 1000 customers mislaid powerfulness successful Connecticut during that storm, on with much than 600,000 outages connected Long Island.

On a Saturday telephone with President Biden and governors from six Northeastern states — positive Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, whose word begins connected Tuesday — the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency discussed the resources the bureau could supply the region, including meals, tarps and generators.

Earlier, erstwhile it looked much apt that the tempest would straight deed New England, customers bought each of the kerosene lamps astatine Adler’s Design Center & Hardware successful Providence, R.I., earlier moving connected to flashlights and candles, said Leanne Dolloff, a cashier.

But adjacent then, galore longtime residents of the portion were skeptical that the tempest would beryllium excessively disruptive.

“We’re New Englanders, we tin grip it,” said Ms. Dolloff, 40, who remembers waking up to a floating furniture successful her Lowell, Mass., location erstwhile Hurricane Gloria — the past hurricane to marque landfall connected Long Island — swept done successful 1985.

Officials were preparing successful lawsuit Henri causes arsenic overmuch harm arsenic Gloria oregon Hurricane Bob, which tore its mode up the East Coast successful 1991. More than a twelve radical died successful each storm.

Gloria was a Category 1 tempest erstwhile it deed Long Island, forcing hundreds of thousands of radical to evacuate, bringing down thousands of trees and leaving 1.5 cardinal homes without power. Bob made landfall arsenic a Category 2 tempest that near millions affected by downed trees, powerfulness outages and flooding.

Bill Shore, a longtime nonmigratory of Newport, R.I., remembers however terrifying it was to acquisition Bob. He had driven to New Jersey to unafraid a vessel and past frantically drove backmost to prevention his house.

“Limbs were coming down,” helium said, “but I made it backmost without getting clobbered.”

Mr. Shore, however, said helium was not excessively disquieted astir Henri. He has a generator astatine location and planned to support his 30-foot sailboat successful the water, though helium was reasoning astir renting a concatenation saw to tidy up aft the storm.

In Boston’s Seaport District, which was built upon the mud flats and brackish marshes on Boston Harbor successful the decades aft Hurricane Bob, bars and restaurants similar Harpoon, Legal Sea Foods and Yankee Lobster had not made plans to adjacent for Henri. Farther east, successful the Cape Cod assemblage of Buzzards Bay, boats were being removed from the marina but small was being done to unafraid state grills oregon platform chairs.

The tempest is forecast to determination into Maine aboriginal Tuesday, but immoderate aboriginal precautions were being taken. In York, astatine the state’s confederate tip, the adjunct harbormaster Joe Hogan arranged for boats moored adjacent the harbor entranceway to determination to much protected waters. Two dinghies sank astatine the municipality dock, helium said, during the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred this past week.

Henri was expected to flood galore areas already inundated from Fred.

In Boston, officials said they were gathering barriers astir the city’s astir susceptible subway presumption and would suspend immoderate transit services connected Sunday. Massachusetts saw dense rains connected Thursday that required exigency workers to retrieve radical from cars caught successful precocious water. When Tropical Storm Elsa traveled up the Northeast seashore earlier successful the summer, New York subway riders were forced to navigate waist-deep waters astatine immoderate stations.

Hurricane Sandy flooded subway and road tunnels successful New York successful 2012, knocking retired powerfulness to overmuch of Manhattan. But Sandy was a overmuch larger storm, devastating an country from New Jersey to Connecticut, and its size drove a catastrophic surge of seawater into New York Harbor.

Henri is not expected to person the aforesaid impact, and passengers waiting to committee the ferry from Boston to Provincetown connected Friday nighttime were cautiously optimistic their plans would not beryllium foiled.

Gary Livolsi said helium had been done a batch of nor’easters and was contented simply making definite the umbrellas and cushions were not near connected his patio.

“I’m hoping they’re overestimating it, arsenic they often do,” said Susan Mahoney, who was disconnected to walk the play successful Provincetown but was afloat prepared to enactment longer if necessary. “I brought other wine.”

Troy Closson reported from New York and Ellen Barry from Boston. Reporting was contributed by Sophie Kasakove, Michael Gold, Michael Levenson and Adam Sobel from New York, Kristin Hussey from Stamford, Conn., Colleen Cronin from Providence, R.I., Catherine McGloin from Boston, Beth Treffeisen from Dennis, Mass., and Murray Carpenter from Belfast, Maine.