by Gary Strauss, Doyle Rice and Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY
Still navigating the harrowing destruction of
Superstorm Sandy, much of the Northeast was hunkering down for a
nor'easter barreling up the East Coast, ushering in snow, sleet, rain,
strong winds and cold temperatures through Thursday.
National
Weather Service forecasters say the storm doesn't have the destructive
power of Sandy - which killed more than 110 in the U.S., cut power to
8.5 million homes and flooded the New York metropolitan area and New
Jersey coast. But it's still dangerous, threatening potential storm
surges to coastal areas recovering from Sandy's flooding onslaught.
Nearly
60,000 customers in New York and New Jersey who lost power because of
Sandy lost it all over again with the nor'easter, utility companies told
the Associated Press. Con Ed, which serves New York City, said the
storm knocked out power to at least 11,000 customers Wednesday evening.
Tens of thousands more were likely to lose power overnight.
New
York and New Jersey airports had already canceled more than 1,700
flights through today, causing a ripple of travel disruptions around the
country.
Strong wind gusts prompted the halt of construction work
in New York City - which also closed parks because of the threat to
falling trees.
"We're petrified," said James Alexander, who lives
in the hard-hit Rockaways section of Queens. "It's like a sequel to a
horror movie."
Up to 5.5 inches of snow blanketed parts of New
York, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Connecticut by Wednesday
night. Weather Channel meteorologist Jon Erdman said several more inches
could fall in the Poconos, Catskills and western Connecticut.
New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents of flood-prone
neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island to evacuate
Wednesday night.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which
set up assistance centers in New York and New Jersey last week, closed
some facilities in still-reeling Staten Island, Coney Island and the
Rockaways to protect emergency staffers.
In New Jersey, where
recovery workers were building up badly eroded beach dunes, a fresh
round of evacuations was ordered for some coastal communities.
"I
am waiting for the locusts and pestilence next," New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie said. "We may take a setback in the next 24 hours."
Christie
warned heavy, wet snow inland could reverse some power restored to 2.76
million New Jerseyans who lost electricity last week. About 370,000
remain without power.
"We're doing what we need to do to prepare for this, just like we did for Hurricane Sandy," Christie said. "We're prepared."
Road
crews and utility workers in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island
were preparing for snow, power damage and potential flooding. Delaware
Transportation officials are focusing on potential flooding near
vacation town Bethany Beach.