NEW YORK CITY (CNN) — First it was Superstorm Sandy. Now a nor’easter is whipping the region, and is dumping snow and zapping power lines from Delaware to Maine.
According to CNN, the nor’easter complicates restoration efforts days after the superstorm killed at least 111 people in the region and knocked out power to millions of customers.
Forecasters say that up to seven inches of snow are expected by Thursday morning on Staten Island – the NYC borough hit hardest by Sandy.
Parts of Connecticut have already seen more than eight inches of snow.
“It’s Mother Nature’s one-two punch,” Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey, told CNN’s “Piers Morgan.” “It’s testing the resolve and the grit of my state and my city and, obviously, this region.”
Some 25,000 residents of Newark are still without power from Sandy.
“Now, this is being dumped; it has the potential to knock out more power within my state,” he said.
Power outages in New York and New Jersey rose from 607,000 on Wednesday to 666,000 customers by early Thursday, CNN reports.
“We’re getting hit pretty hard between the snow and the wind,” said Elizabeth Flagler, a spokeswoman for the Long Island Power Authority.
Forecasters predicted gusts of up to 60 mph in shore towns and cities across New York and New Jersey, bringing 2- to 4-foot storm surges just as homes and office buildings had begun to dry out and floodwaters recede after Sandy.
Officials say that airlines have canceled all or a significant number of their flights into the New York City area’s three major airports – Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia.
Travelers heading into the Northeast are advised to check with their carriers before heading to the airport.