Autumn storm paralyzes air traffic and leads to power outages in the northeastern USA

A severe autumn storm has partially paralyzed air traffic in the northeast of the USA and led to power outages. At times on Saturday, more than 100,000 homes and businesses in six states from Washington to Maine were without power, data from the PowerOutage.com service show. By evening, more than 68,000 households were still cut off from the power grid, 35,000 of them in New York state alone. According to the FlightAware portal, airlines canceled more than 400 flights.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul had declared a state of emergency for some districts as a precautionary measure before the storm hit. She warned on Saturday of "extremely dangerous conditions" along the coast. There was a risk of waves up to six meters high and flooding. Winds gusted to more than 80 kilometers per hour, said Hochul. According to media reports, a man was killed by a falling tree.

The US National Weather Service warned of coastal flooding, strong wind gusts and heavy rain until Monday. Authorities are predicting up to 150 liters of rain per square meter for New York state in the coming days. Flooding has already occurred in parts of New Jersey.

AC/DC and Ed Sheeran cancel concerts

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, where heads of state and government from all over the world are gathering for the UN general debate until Monday, television and radio stations were called upon to bring their technical equipment to safety due to strong winds.

Several concerts with world stars were canceled because of the storm. A show by rock band AC/DC scheduled for Friday has been postponed. Two planned concerts by pop star Ed Sheeran near Boston were also canceled due to the weather. The Global Citizen Festival, scheduled for Saturday and held every year in New York's Central Park since 2012, has been canceled for the first time in its history, organizers said. Hip-hop singers Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean were scheduled to perform there.