Northeast slowly drying out from weekend wind-whipped storm

Northeast slowly drying out from weekend storm

WAYNE, N.J. — The powerful wind-whipped nor’easter was gone, but the floods lived on Tuesday in many Northeast communities.

The waters had receded in some places but many others were still inundated. Tens of thousands of people remained without electricity, and hundreds were still in emergency shelters — some for the fourth consecutive day.

In Wayne, a flood-prone New York City suburb along the Passaic River, Abedin Shakiri was told by a utility worker he probably won’t be able to get back into his house until Saturday. The 48-year-old Albanian came to the United States from Kosovo in 2000 as part of a refugee airlift, and bought virtually the first house he set eyes on — near the river.

“It’s a cheap area here,” he said. “It’s nice, when there’s no water.”

He did not know the neighborhood was prone to flooding. Of the previous owner, Shakiri said, “I didn’t ask; he didn’t tell me.”

About 44,000 New Jersey customers remained without power as of midday Tuesday. In Connecticut, nearly 41,000 homes and businesses were in the dark, down from a peak of more than 85,000, and nearly 93,000 were without power in New York City and its suburbs to the north and the east.

Hempstead, N.Y., had more than half the 40,000 outages on Long Island, the Long Island Power Authority said. Staten Island had the bulk of New York City’s 7,500 outages.

Paul Feiner, supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh, one of the hardest-hit areas in New York’s Westchester County, said Tuesday he wrote to Gov. David Paterson to suggest that the state National Guard be used to help tree cutters and utility crews in future storms.

“It should be incorporated into their training,” he said.

In Quincy, Mass., Michael Masone was trying to buy hip waders and borrow a friend’s canoe so he could reach his flooded home — and the two cats he left behind.

The 41-year-old said floodwater first filled his back yard, then began rushing into his home early Monday, making his basement windows look like “fish tanks,” before eventually rising to the first floor. He called 911 and was told by firefighters to cut electricity. He then went up to the second floor, where he attempted to ride out the storm, only to leave a few hours later.

In southeastern New Hampshire, more than 100 roads remained closed due to flooding. About 100 homes were evacuated in Somersworth, Allenstown and Exeter.

A dam that had been threatened Monday in West Warwick, R.I., held, and flood waters were receding on Tuesday.

In flood-ravaged riverfront communities such as Little Falls and Bound Brook in New Jersey, residents and business-owners were dragging waterlogged furniture to the curb and assessing the damage.

“The flood waters have receded, and pumping is going very well in Bound Brook, pumping out a lot of basements,” said LeRoy Gunzelman III, Somerset County’s emergency management director. “We’re making very good progress.”

There were 322 Somerset County residents in shelters as of midday, but Gunzelman said he was optimistic many would be able to either return to their homes or find other arrangements by late Tuesday.

In Atlantic City, many of the 400 residents who had to leave their oceanfront homes during the storm were expected to be allowed to return home Tuesday afternoon.

Further north at the Jersey shore, pounding waves from the storm wrecked a bayfront memorial to the 37 Middletown, N.J., residents who were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

At least 11 people died in storm-related accidents, and nearly a half-million people lost power at the peak of the storm in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Governors from New Jersey to Massachusetts were seeking federal assistance to help defray cleanup costs.

Associated Press writers Wayne Parry in Atlantic City, N.J., Jim Fitzgerald in White Plains, N.Y., and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.