A powerful nor'easter slammed the United States East Coast over the weekend, killing at least one person, knocking out electricity to more than 100,000 homes and businesses at its peak, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights, and flooding coastal communities from New Jersey to New England. The New York City Housing Authority said Saturday that one of its employees was killed in Brooklyn when a falling tree struck him as the storm tore through the city with driving rain and strong winds. The death was the first directly attributed to the system as it spent the weekend churning up the coast from Washington, D.C. to Maine. A region-wide blackout, then a slow recovery The storm's strongest gusts toppled trees and power lines across four states. Outage tracking data showed blackouts peaking above 100,000 customers on Saturday, with the highest single tally reaching 119,000 earlier in the day. By Saturday night, crews had whittled that number down to roughly 73,000 homes and businesses still in the dark. New York and Connecticut each had more than 20,000 customers without power late Saturday, with additional outages reported in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. On Long Island, utility PSEG said severe weather had cut service to more than 13,000 customers across the island and the Rockaways after winds brought down branches and lines — though the company said it had already restored electricity to over 45,000 customers affected since Friday morning. In New York's Hudson Valley, Central Hudson Gas & Electric said repair crews were working through the weekend to restore more than 19,000 customers, particularly in parts of Ulster County, with work expected to continue into Sunday. Rising water from Maryland to Massachusetts Flooding emerged as the storm's other major threat. The National Weather Service warned of "major coastal flooding" along the Mid-Atlantic coast across multiple high-tide cycles, urging residents in low-lying shoreline areas to prepare for significant inundation that could submerge roads and reach homes and businesses. In New Jersey, where floodwaters swept through streets and into homes, several shore communities issued voluntary evacuation notices. In Sea Bright, Mayor Brian Kelly said officials were bracing for gusts near 50 miles per hour and floodwater up to six feet deep on some streets, describing the expected scale as closer to the flooding the town suffered during Hurricane Irene in 2011. In Surf City and nearby Manasquan, streets filled with water that was slow to drain; one local official said he expected standing water to linger for a long time. Farther south, an Ocean City, Maryland resident told The Associated Press that rising water in the city's canals was spilling into backyards. In Brooklyn, debris-lined walkways in the Dumbo neighborhood showed the storm's reach into New York City itself, and residents in parts of Queens were seen kayaking through flooded streets toward a subway station. Forecasters projected rain bands of four to eight inches between Long Island and Boston, with up to six inches possible on Long Island alone and ocean waves reaching as high as 20 feet in some areas. Flights grounded, games and concerts canceled Air travel absorbed a heavy blow. By 9:50 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, airlines had canceled about 425 flights and delayed more than 3,000, according to FlightAware, with 130 of the cancellations at Boston's Logan Airport alone. The Federal Aviation Administration warned that high winds could disrupt flights at all three major New York-area airports through the weekend, and several carriers waived change fees for affected passengers. The weekend's entertainment and sports calendar took a hit as well. AC/DC's Friday concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was postponed to October 2. Shows by Ed Sheeran in Massachusetts on Friday and Saturday were canceled, along with planned performances by Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz in New York City. In baseball, Saturday's matchup between the Chicago Cubs and the host Boston Red Sox was relocated hundreds of miles south, moved to Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Warnings and what's ahead Governors of New York and New Jersey had declared states of emergency in their hardest-hit counties as early as Friday. New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned residents bluntly about the water, saying anyone entering it over the weekend was "literally gambling with their life." New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to stay off the roads, telling them not to travel unless they had to. The National Weather Service said the system would keep pounding the region with coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents, powerful wind gusts and heavy rain through Monday. Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the Weather Service office in College Park, Maryland, said the region faced several more days of high winds, elevated tides and heavy rain. He noted that nor'easters are a normal part of autumn in New England, but added that one this strong arrives earlier in the season than usual. For the millions of people in the storm's path, the weekend served as a harsh reminder that hurricane season is not the only window for destructive coastal weather — and that September can deliver a full-fledged nor'easter of its own.