New Storm Looms, May Strike East Coast Mid-Week

Talk about adding insult to injury. As storm battered residents all across the East are struggling to cope with storm damage, power outages and flooding due to superstorm Sandy, a new, large storm is approaching the eastern portion of the country and may strike as early as Wednesday.

The approaching system is a typical nor’Easter with wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour. The storm is threatening to bring more heavy rainfall, snow and flooding to areas which are already damaged from Sandy. While the new storm is not going to be as severe as Sandy, it could still be very intense. That would put a serious damper on recovery efforts in affected areas. Strong, whipping winds could easily down trees that are already unstable and storm surge could cause more flooding and beach erosion.

In the Big Apple, large areas of the city are returning to some degree of normalcy. However, with gas shortages, thousands of commuters and motorists are being forced off the roads and onto the public transit system that is not yet fully ready for them. Simultaneously, government officials are struggling with a long-term problem of finding temporary housing for the tens of thousands of people who may not be able to return to their homes for weeks or even months because of flooding, a lack of power and storm damage.

In New York City alone, up to 40,000 residents may require relocation which is a huge task in a crowded city that has a housing shortage already. Officials are thinking about setting up trailer communities in stadiums, city parks and other open areas, something that’s never before been done. With temperatures dipping to just above freezing over the past few nights, people with no power are sleeping in several layers of clothing. Officials have been busy handing out blankets and urging storm victims to go to daytime warming centers or overnight shelters.

Coastal flooding along the shores of New Jersey is a major concern with the approaching storm. Meteorologists are worried that the storm moving up the eastern coastline could lead to a drastic rise in water levels along the New Jersey coast as early as Tuesday evening and into Wednesday. As the large storm draws closer to land, it is expected to strengthen which will increase the winds along the shore that has already seen mass destruction and erosion. This could very well lead to some new, significant flooding.

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