Updated: September 26, 2026, 6:20 p.m. Eastern
NEW YORK — A powerful nor’easter disrupted travel and power service across the U.S. Northeast on Saturday, canceling more than 400 flights and leaving more than 100,000 homes and businesses without electricity at the height of the storm.
The outage total exceeded 119,000 earlier Saturday before falling to roughly 88,000 by 1:07 p.m. Eastern, according to PowerOutage.com figures reported by Reuters. Connecticut, New Jersey and New York each had more than 25,000 customers without service shortly after 1 p.m.
Around 425 flights involving U.S. airports had been canceled and more than 1,300 delayed by Saturday afternoon, Reuters reported, citing FlightAware. The disruption affected a busy corridor that includes the New York area’s major airports and Boston Logan International Airport.
The National Weather Service said the storm would continue producing coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents, strong wind gusts and heavy rain from the Mid-Atlantic into New England through Monday. Its forecast discussion warned of major coastal flooding and damaging winds capable of bringing down trees and power lines.
New Jersey’s state of emergency remained in effect across Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties. The declaration activated the state Emergency Operations Center and coordinated state police, transportation, environmental and county emergency agencies. New York also declared emergencies in areas expected to receive some of the storm’s strongest effects, while Connecticut activated its Emergency Operations Center.
PSEG Long Island said the storm had brought down trees, branches and wires. The utility reported restoring service to more than 34,600 customers affected since Friday morning, though thousands remained without power Saturday afternoon.
The nor’easter also disrupted weekend events and rail and road travel. Officials urged residents in coastal communities to avoid flooded roads, keep away from downed wires and monitor local warnings. Conditions can vary sharply by location, and the latest local National Weather Service alerts should take priority over regional summaries.
The storm’s broad impact illustrates why outage totals can change quickly: crews may restore service in one area while fresh wind damage causes failures elsewhere. Flight cancellation and delay counts are similarly fluid as airlines reposition aircraft and crews.
Illustrative image: Storm waves along a coastline. Photo by Cristofer Maximilian/Unsplash.