Bomb cyclone: Storm hammers northeast US bringing flooding and tidal surges - as it happened

It is the second such major storm to hit the East Coast this year

A car is submerged as the coastal storm hits Scituate, Massachusetts (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

A powerful "bomb cyclone" storm is lashing the US northeast, bringing snow, flooding and tidal surges all along the coast.

More than 2,100 flights have been cancelled by airlines, with New York, Boston and Washington DC hardest hit

Many areas were buffeted by wind gusts exceeding 50 mph, with possible hurricane-strength winds of 80 to 90 mph on Cape Cod. Also, heavy snow fell in Ohio and upstate New York as the storm spun eastward. Boston south to Rhode Island was forecast to get 2 to 5 inches of snow from the late-winter storm.

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Powerful winds forced President Donald Trump to fly out of Dulles International Airport instead of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Air Force One is housed. Mr Trump flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend the funeral of the Reverend Billy Graham.

Flooding has already been seen in Boston streets, including areas around the Long Wharf and the rapidly developing Seaport District, flooded in a winter storm.

The National Weather Service has coastal flood watches and warnings in place from southern Maine through coastal Virginia, including New York's eastern suburbs, and was also tracking a snowstorm heading east from the Ohio Valley that could drop significant amounts of snow in northern New York State. It forecast storm surges of up to 4 feet (1.2 metres) for eastern Massachusetts.

More than 700,000 homes and businesses were without power across the region, with the largest number of outages in New York, utilities said.

Federal offices closed on Friday in Washington, while dozens of schools throughout the region cancelled classes.

Southern California was also facing weather dangers, with risks of rain-driven mudslides prompting mandatory evacuations ordered for some 30,000 people living near fire-scarred hills around the Santa Barbara coast.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report

Key Points

• 'This is life and death' - warnings over safety as storm hits

[2 March 2018 16:50 · Kristin Hugo]

Welcome to our coverage of the storm currently lashing the northeast US.

Thanks to a massive pressure drop within 24 hours, the storm can now be official termed a 'bomb cyclone', which will bring tidal surges, flooding to areas of the coast and heavy snow elsewhere.

[2 March 2018 16:51 · Kristin Hugo]

Seawater on Friday flowed onto some coastal streets around Boston, where businesses set up flood barriers and piled sandbags around their doors as a powerful storm threatened to flood pockets of the US coast from Maine to Virginia.

Over 700,000 homes and businesses were without power in the US northeast, hundreds of flights have been cancelled at New York's three major airports and Boston's Logan International, and the federal government closed offices in Washington.

It is the second time this year that Boston streets, including areas around the Long Wharf and the rapidly developing Seaport District, flooded in a winter storm - with the last bomb cyclone in January the other culprit.

[2 March 2018 17:02 · Kristin Hugo]

Residents of coastal areas that regularly flood in storms, including the towns of Newburyport, Duxbury and Scituate had been encouraged to evacuate their homes and head to higher ground, said Chris Besse, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

He added that it is hard to predict where the storm will take its heaviest toll.

"It could be that the first high tide washes away dunes from one beach and the second washes away houses," Mr Besse said.

[2 March 2018 17:19 · Kristin Hugo]

Firefighters in Quincy and Duxbury in Massachusetts rescued drivers from stranded cars. Quincy police warned drivers on Twitter not to try and drive down flooded streets. 

Flooded roads were also reported on Long Island, New York, and in Connecticut. 

[2 March 2018 18:17 · Kristin Hugo]

These powerful storms are called a nor'easter. Such a storm is considered a bomb cyclone when it drops 24 millibars in 24 hours.

This one is expected has so far dropped 30mb in 24 hours. What are millibars? It's a pressure measurement that tells the strength of the storm - the lower the storm's pressure the stronger storm it is.

[2 March 2018 18:47 · Kristin Hugo]

Wild winds have led to closures throughout Washington DC.

A high wind warning remains in effect until 6am on Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. The strongest winds will be through this evening.

[2 March 2018 18:48 · Kristin Hugo]

A pilot who landed a flight at the city's Dulles Airport during morning reported that "pretty much everyone on the plane threw up" during the windy descent"

[2 March 2018 18:51 · Kristin Hugo]

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said he has activated 200 members of the National Guard.

"Do not ride out the storm if you are told to evacuate," Mr Baker said.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency predicted the storm will affect the state through Saturday.

"This is one of the more extreme storms in recent memory in terms of coastal flooding and damaging wind potential along the coast, but also includes heavy wet snow and heavy rain as important factors," the agency said.

[2 March 2018 19:24 · Kristin Hugo]

At New York's JFK airport, a ground stop is now in effect thanks to the weather.

All inbound flights are being held and departure flights are very limited.

[2 March 2018 19:45 · Steve Anderson]

Rail travel has also been severely affected by the weather.

Amtrak announced that all services along the Northeast Corridor "are temporarily suspended due to multiple weather related issues." 

Service between New York City and Boston was suspended earlier due to flooding and multiple downed trees. 

Amtrak also announced that one track on the Washington-Maryland corridor was out service for repairs due to weather damage. That forced trains to reduce speeds for safety.