New England coast hit by Noel

By Karyn Chenoweth Nov 3, 2007, 19:40 GMT

Two women walk across a crosswalk in a driving rain in the parking lot at Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts, USA on 03 November 2007, as an extratropical storm which was once Hurricane Noel arrives along the Northeastern coast of the US. More than three inches of rain and gusts of winds in excess of 85 mph are expected in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts for several hours on 03 November. EPA/MATT CAMPBELL

As the remnants of Hurricane Noel trundled northeastward across the open Atlantic toward the shores of New England as high winds buffeted the region.

The worst of the storm could hit during high tide on Saturday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson.

A man leans into the wind as he walks back to his car in the parking lot at Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts, USA on 03 November 2007, as an extratropical storm which was once Hurricane Noel arrives along the Northeastern coast of the US. More than three inches of rain and gusts of winds in excess of 85 mph are expected in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts for several hours on 03 November. EPA/MATT CAMPBELL

High wind warnings were in effect for coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey and the eastern tip of New York's Long Island.

Sustained winds were expected to reach 40 to 50 mph along the New England coast, potentially up to 70 mph on the coast of Maine.

EPA/MATT CAMPBELL

Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were expected to feel the brunt of the storm, where gusts could reach 90 mph, the weather service said.

Although the center of the storm was expected to pass about 175 miles east of the eastern tip of Long Island, wind was already affecting that area Saturday morning, with the Long Island Power Authority reporting more than 300 customers blacked out.

On Saturday, coastal flood warning and flood watches were in effect up and down the New England coast.

Simpson said Cape Cod could see up to 5 inches of rain, with about 3 inches elsewhere on the Massachusetts coast and up to Maine.

CNN reported that the deaths in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas made Noel the deadliest storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.