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Landfall happened at around 12:45 p.m. Sunday in Westerly, Rhode Island, which is located on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, about 12 miles east of Mystic Seaport, in New London County, Connecticut.
Henri hit the New England Coast with heavy rain, in addition to the powerful winds. Officials in the area of the landfall are preparing for power outages as well as potential rescues due to flooding.
Since Saturday morning, Henri's track has shifted about 50 miles to the east, making landfall on Long Island less likely now.
Henri (pronounced ON-ree) became a Category 1 hurricane late Saturday morning, before returning to tropical storm status early Sunday morning.
About 50 million people in the Northeast are under a Tropical Storm Warning, with earlier hurricane warnings in some parts of the region now tropical storm warnings.
While Henri's strong winds are worrisome, especially areas to the right of the storm's eye, flash flooding will be widespread as the storm is expected to spin around after making landfall, with its outer bands, especially to the west, producing drenching downpours.
Overnight, outer bands of the storm drenched much of New York City and northern New Jersey, with 6 inches of rainfall reported in Brooklyn.
Widespread rainfall of 4 inches is now forecast with localized higher amounts possible Saturday through Sunday night.
With saturated grounds and leaves still on trees, even winds gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour could bring down some trees and tree limbs, leading to power outages.
A tornado or two may occur Sunday over southern New England.
- For a look at the projected path of Hurricane Henri until Tuesday, Aug. 24, see the first image above.
- Click on the second image above for areas in the region where widespread power outages are expected (shown in red), check the first image above.
- Click on the third image above for expected rainfall totals.
- Click on the fourth image above for expected peak wind gusts.
The main threats from Henri are:
- Potentially life-threatening storm surge,
- Heavy rain capable of producing flash flooding,
- Tropical storm or hurricane-force winds along the south shore and Long Island and across southern Connecticut.
- There will also be associated marine and coastal hazards, including very rough seas and dangerous rip currents.
- Severe beach erosion is possible for coastal areas of Long Island Sound and portions of Suffolk County, including the Twin Forks region.
- Earlier report - Tropical Storm Sunday: New Outlook For Power Outages, Rainfall Totals, Wind Speeds For Henri
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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