CNN
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Drivers traveling from Raleigh to New York City will have a tough Monday morning commute An intense storm system Moving up the east coast, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
Traffic along the coast’s busy I-95 corridor is at risk of wind and rain delays throughout the weekend and into Monday as the storm moves southeast and up the coast.
Cities including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach could see street flooding from heavy rains. About 58 million people from North Carolina to Maine were under a flood watch Monday morning.
New Yorkers may find themselves ankle-deep in floodwaters in some low-lying areas, with about 1 foot of flooding expected.
About 45 million people from east Georgia to the northeast were under a high wind warning late Sunday. The National Weather Service warned that hurricane-force winds could make travel difficult, particularly in southern Connecticut, southeastern New York and parts of Boston.
Officials warned that these strong winds could bring down trees and power lines, as well as damage or blow away outdoor holiday decorations in some parts of the region.
Minor to moderate urban flooding could inundate parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, especially in areas with poor drainage, the NWS in New York City said. Low-rise buildings such as first floors, basements and basements are particularly at risk, it said.
The storm wreaked havoc across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic over the weekend, triggering dangerous flooding in eastern South Carolina and prompting a hurricane watch covering more than 1 million people in North Carolina. At its peak.
More than 32,000 homes and businesses in Virginia and the Carolinas remained without power Sunday night, according to the tracker. PowerOutage.us.
John F. in New York. Air travel has already been disrupted at Kennedy International Airport, where strong winds are delaying flights into the airport by an average of about 3 hours. Federal Aviation Administration.
The storm system will begin to move away from the northeast Monday evening, but its effects will linger, the weather service said.
“Although the major storm will begin moving out of the northeast Monday evening, the storm’s larger circulation will sweep across the entire eastern United States with very hazy conditions,” the weather service said.
Jeffrey Wu/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press
Lance Kreitzer, 21, waits in his kayak as fire and rescue workers work to help residents of a flooded road on December 17 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The storm began moving up the coast on Saturday, passing much of Florida and crossing the southeast coast on Sunday, pummeling coastal communities with powerful winds and sometimes record rainfall.
More than 1 million people in eastern North Carolina remained under a tornado watch as of Sunday night, as the weather service warned of possible winds of up to 65 mph. By 2 a.m. Monday, the clock had dropped to about 100,000 people.
In eastern Georgetown County, South Carolina, south of Myrtle Beach, flash flooding caused water rescue operations. Happening Sunday, National Weather Service. The regional weather service said It has also received Reports indicate that power poles have fallen, trees have fallen on houses and buildings have been damaged in the area.
About 40 miles south of Myrtle Beach, Georgetown received nearly a foot of rain, the weather service said.
The state has seen several record rainfalls, including 3.86 inches in downtown Charleston, the last time 1.18 inches was recorded in 1923.
CNN’s Nooran Salahi contributed to this report.
