Tri-State Prepping For Nicole's Wrath
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- It was beautiful Wednesday, but just wait until Thursday.
"Tomorrow though you're going to need the wet weather gear as we have the wind and the rain on the way," said CBS 2 HD's meteorologist John Elliott.
The outer bands of Tropical Storm Nicole were lashing South Florida with heavy rain early Wednesday afternoon, and the storm is racing our way next.
"We have some interesting weather developing and bubbling up out of the south," Elliott said. "Much of the area, A-OK. Just down though into parts of Maryland and into the Virginias and the Carolinas you're seeing this heavy rain. Now that's affiliated with a stationary front. The rainmaker Nicole is still well to the south."
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By midday the rain will start in earnest, but the heaviest rain on Thursday will be north and west of the Big Apple.
"It's early Friday that we start to see the heavy, heavy rain bands," Elliott said.
In our area, preparations were under way on Wednesday evening. Queens residents were among those cleaning out their gutters, because you know what happens when the gutters get clogged.
It was sunny and dry now Wednesday but folks in Mamaroneck up in Westchester County were on high alert, prepping for an overnight storm that could have residents waking up under water.
Crews were dredging and draining Gardens Lake on Lakeside Drive to take the brunt of the rainfall and prevent the area from flooding, reports CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez.
Mamaroneck Supervisor Steve Altieri said the town was preparing for the worst. Crews were clearing catch basins and lowered the Larchmont Reservoir to prevent the massive flooding they saw in 2007. People were forced out of their homes to flee for higher and drier ground.
"We evacuated from the village of Mamaroneck, 400-500 people in our evacuation center," Altieri said. "We've prepared all emergency personnel. Our equipment is all fueled up and ready to go."
The Veterans of Foreign Wars building on Boston Post Road was at the ready to serve as shelter should residents need to evacuate their homes again Thursday.
Earlier this year Laura Persky's Larchmont home was flooded after a heavy rainstorm knocked out power and their sump pump. Family home video shows damaged books, electronics and sports equipment that was destroyed and pulled from their basement.
Now Persky is better prepared with a brand new back-up generator ready to roll.
"Those of us without the backup generator get flooded. So we've already been through that and now we have the generator and now it's just a matter of waiting to see whether we get flooded or not," Persky said.
Weather Forecast:
Thursday: High 76, Low 63
Patchy fog in the morning. Rain in the morning, then showers in the afternoon. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the afternoon. Windy and humid with highs in the upper 70s. Southeast winds 20 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 40 mph, increasing to 55 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 90 percent.
Friday: High 72, Low 58
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, then sunny in the afternoon. Less humid with highs in the lower 70s. North winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Saturday: High 68, Low 56
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
Sunday: High 65, Low 54
Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.
