WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Strong winds, heavy rain,surging waves and sporadic snow are wreaking havoc across the U.S.East Coast on Friday, already leaving thousands of flightscancelled, power knocked out in part of Washington D.C. and over 22million residents under a coastal flood warning.
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"Take this storm seriously!" the National Weather Service inBoston warned via Twitter on Friday morning. "This is a LIFE &DEATH situation for those living along the coast, especially thoseocean-exposed shorelines."
With the moon full, the tide is at its highest point of themonth, and the storm surge could drive as much as 4 feet (about1.22 meter) of water into coastal neighbourhoods, CNNmeteorologists said, noting more than 22 million Americans are nowunder a coastal flood warning.
"Do not ride out the storm if you are told to evacuate,"Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker called for residents to beready, saying he has called in the National Guard.
"This is one of the more extreme storms in recent memory interms of coastal flooding and damaging wind potential along thecoast, but also includes heavy wet snow and heavy rain as importantfactors," the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency officialssaid, predicting tides "will be astronomically high" in the nextfew days.
In New Jersey, officials are also expecting heavy rain to floodsome rivers and streams, affecting drainage.
So far on Friday, at least 2,400 flights have been cancelledacross the United States, including more than 1,000 flights in NewYork's Newark, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports, according tothe FlightAware.com. Many travellers were stranded.
In the Washington D.C., over 300 flights were either delayed orcancelled at its three major airports. A pilot reported that a"very bumpy" landing into the Washington D.C. area left passengersand crew nauseated, the U.S. Aviation Weather Center tweeted.
Wind gusts exceeding 50 and 60 mph have been reported atairports in the Washington D.C. area Friday morning. Federaloffices did not open Friday, with schools closed and trashcollection suspended. The D.C. authorities also activated ahypothermia alert, urging those homeless to take shelter.
After Thursday night, more than 100,000 customers were leftwithout power in the D.C. region, said a Washington Post report.Amtrak said power outages were affecting its Northeast Corridortrain service.
Downed trees were seen in and around the Washington D.C. area onFriday morning and high winds are expected to continue for much ofthe day, making Friday possibly the U.S. capital city's windiestday since Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
Major cities in the Northeast, such as Philadelphia and NewYork, may get a wintry mix of snow, rain and sleet, though with nosnow accumulation forecast, according to CNN meteorologists.
The U.S. National Weather Service says strong winds are likelyto remain throughout Friday and into Saturday.
Any snow that falls will be heavy and wet, likely to bring downtrees and power lines, and cause power outages, they warned.
"As the saying goes, March is coming in like a lion, and we arepreparing for heavy snow, rain, and flooding across New York thisweekend,"
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, urging residents to payattention to weather forecasts. Enditem
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