Hurricane watch issued for Long Island and New England, with Tropical Storm Henri forecast to gain strength
The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for New England and portions of Long Island, N.Y., with Tropical Storm Henri likely to develop into a hurricane before it hits the Northeastern coast this weekend.
Henri is expected to make landfall starting Sunday, and residents of New England can expect strong winds of up to 75 mph, up to 5 inches of rainfall and a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet into Monday. The first tropical-storm-force winds could reach the shore late Saturday.
The hurricane watch largely covers Long Island but also includes portions of Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, where Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are located. Tropical-storm watches have been issued for the metro New York area, including Westchester and Nassau counties.
The alert comes one day after the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Bob, which was the last time a hurricane made landfall in New England. Bob, which affected New Englanders for up to two weeks, cost $1.5 billion in damages, which is nearly $3 billion today, and killed at least 17 people.
Henri follows closely behind Fred, a tropical depression that passed through parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts earlier this week, areas that could get up to another total 8 inches of rain this weekend.
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