storm riley has left a million of people without power and has taken at least nine lives. Officials have cautioned that more severe weather is expected in the areas along the East Coast. The warnings cover Florida and parts of the Caribbean where high tides are expected with possibilities of flooding along the coast. Many residents had left their homes, and schools had also closed due to the storm.
Daily Mail UK reports that Storm Riley has left large stretches from Virginia to Massachusetts without any electricity. More than 180,000 people did not have any power in Massachusetts.
The corresponding figure for Pennsylvania was in excess of 230,000 while there reports of large-scale outages in places like New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. According to forecasts, heavy rainfall will continue, but the winds could be less severe. The storm has damaged the infrastructure, and the administration is trying to restore normalcy on priority.
Extent of damages
In a coastal town near Boston, Storm Riley has deposited sand on the roads near Peggotty Beach. Officials plan to use drones to assess the extent of coastal damages including damages to coastal communities that have been hit hard along the East Coast.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared states of emergency in four New York counties that are faced with large-scale power outages and flooding.
Some schools in the suburbs of Philadelphia did not have any electricity. In New Hampshire, the beach is littered with debris.
The storm has played havoc with communication links as roads have been damaged and many places have become inaccessible. The Coast Guard has cautioned about navigational hazards while AmTrak had temporarily suspended its services due to the inclement weather.
The National Weather Service has warned about a snowstorm that was heading east from the Ohio Valley. The force of the storm, accompanied by huge waves, could destroy ocean-facing homes. Those who live in such regions could be cut off from services for a long duration.
Is climate change to blame?
Any climate disturbance takes a heavy toll on the infrastructure, and Storm Riley is no exception.
It has deprived millions on the East Coast of electricity and destroyed roads apart from residences.
Three hurricanes had struck the United States in 2017 and people are still trying to recover from the after-effects that included loss of lives and properties. These were Hurricane Harvey in Houston in August – September, Hurricane Irma in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea also in the same period, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in September – October.
Storm Riley can be labeled as the first climatic disorder of 2018.
