Hundreds of flights canceled as storm nears
Story Highlights• NEW: Storm floods people out of their homes in West Virginia
• Nor'easter could bring worst flooding in 14 years
• New York governor deploys 3,200 National Guard members
• Storm blamed for three deaths in Kansas, two in Texas
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Airlines canceled 300 flights Sunday as a hard-blowing nor'easter gathered strength along the East Coast and threatened to deliver some of the worst shore flooding in 14 years.
The storm, already blamed for five deaths on the Plains, also flooded people out of their homes in the middle of the night in West Virginia.
The cancellations at the New York area's three major airports affected most carriers, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. More cancellations were expected throughout the day.
Meteorologists expected sustained wind of 40 mph and a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet, a combination that could cause as much coastal damage to New York's Long Island as a winter storm that wreaked havoc there in late 1992, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said. (Gallery: Storm moves across the U.S.)
The 1992 storm also caused millions of dollars worth of damage to low-lying areas on the New Jersey shore, and on Sunday some residents of those areas were packing up to leave. (Read: The Big East storm in historical perspective)
"This is going to be bad," Shaun Rheinheimer said as he moved furniture to higher spots at his house on New Jersey's low-lying Cedar Bonnet Island. Streets were beginning to flood by late morning and waves splashed over bulkheads into backyards.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms extended from Florida up the coast to southern New England on Sunday and the National Weather Service said Washington's Reagan National Airport had measured 1.43 inches of rain.
Warnings, watches all along the coast
The weather service posted storm warnings and watches all along the East Coast, with flood warnings extending from Virginia north to the New York area. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of New England and eastern New York state. (Northeast flood, storm warnings)
The storm also caused flooding in the mountains of southern West Virginia, where emergency services personnel rescued nearly two dozen people from homes and cars in Logan and Boone counties early Sunday. Two people were unaccounted for.
"It's about as bad as it can get," said Logan, West Virginia, Fire Chief Scott Beckett. "This thing came down at 2 or 3 in the morning, when people were sleeping in their beds. They just didn't know what was happening."
Two to 4 inches of rain was forecast for the New York City region with wind gusting to 50 mph. The weather service said as much as 20 inches of snow was possible at higher elevations of New York's Adirondacks by the time the storm passes late Monday and Tuesday.
Spitzer said some low-lying areas of Long Island may need to be evacuated, and he deployed 3,200 members of the National Guard to potential flood areas. Ferry service to Fire Island, off the south shore of Long Island, was halted, and New York City opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations.
Pennsylvania and Connecticut officials were opening emergency operations centers, Pennsylvania in anticipation of heavy snow and Connecticut because of the threat of coastal flooding. New Jersey made preparations for heavy snow in the state's northwest corner and flooding elsewhere.
"We're kind of all sitting back, getting prepared and hoping it doesn't get as bad as it has been in different parts of the country," said James Thomas, Connecticut's emergency management commission.
The storm also rained out Sunday's Washington Nationals game with the New York Mets at New York's Shea Stadium. Last weekend, snow dumped by another major storm system wiped out scheduled Mariners-Indians games at Cleveland for four straight days.
"It is unusual for this time of year. We probably see a storm like this, at this time of year, probably once every 25 years or so," said Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Maryland. (Watch the storm system spread damage across the country )
The storm had been blamed for five deaths as it blew out of the Plains late in the week, two in violent thunderstorms in Texas and three on slippery roads in Kansas, where more than a foot of snow fell. Two tornadoes caused damage Friday in Texas. (Watch huge hailstones pound Texas neighborhood )
