Nor'easter soaks East, floods W. Va.

NEW YORK -- A powerful nor'easter pounded the East with wind and pouring rain Sunday, grounding airlines and threatening to create some of the worst coastal flooding in 14 years.

The storm also flooded people out of their homes in the middle of the night in West Virginia. Other inland states faced a threat of heavy snow.

One person was killed as dozens of mobile homes were destroyed or damaged by wind in South Carolina. The storm system already had been blamed for five deaths on Friday in Kansas and Texas.

The Coast Guard had warned mariners to head for port because wind up to 55 mph was expected to generate seas up to 20 feet high, Petty Officer Etta Smith said Sunday in Boston.

Airlines canceled more than 350 flights at the New York area's three major airports, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. More cancellations were expected throughout the day.

Streets were underwater Sunday in Danville, W. Va., after overnight storms flooded many out of their homes in southern West Virginia. A powerful nor'easter pounded the East with wind and pouring rain Sunday, grounding airlines and threatening to create some of the worst coastal flooding in 14 years. (Bob Bird ~ Associated Press)

The storm also rained out Sunday's Washington Nationals game with the New York Mets at New York's Shea Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates home game against San Francisco, the Houston Astros at Philadelphia, the Kansas City Royals at Baltimore, and the Los Angeles Angels at Boston. Last weekend, snow dumped by another major storm system wiped out scheduled Mariners-Indians games at Cleveland for four straight days.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms extended from Florida up the coast to New England on Sunday. Wind gusted to 71 mph at Charleston, S.C., the weather service said.

Storm warnings and watches were posted all along the East Coast, with flood warnings extending from North Carolina to the New York area. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of New England and eastern New York state.

Meteorologists expected sustained wind of 40 mph and a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet, a combination that could cause as much coastal damage to New York's Long Island as a winter storm that wreaked havoc there in late 1992, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said.

Ferry service to Fire Island, off the south shore of Long Island, was halted, and New York City opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations. Spitzer sent 3,200 National Guard members to potential flood areas.

Some residents of low-lying areas along the New Jersey shore packed up to leave.

"This is going to be bad," Shaun Rheinheimer said as he moved furniture to higher spots at his house on New Jersey's Cedar Bonnet Island. Streets were flooded and waves splashed over bulkheads into backyards.

The storm also caused flash flooding in the mountains of southern West Virginia, where emergency services personnel rescued nearly two dozen people from homes and cars in Logan and Boone counties early Sunday. Two people were unaccounted for.

"It's about as bad as it can get," said Logan, W. Va., Fire Chief Scott Beckett. "This thing came down at 2 or 3 in the morning, when people were sleeping in their beds. They just didn't know what was happening."

Some remained trapped in their homes because roads were blocked by high water or mud, said Dean Meadows, Wyoming County emergency services director.

Up to 2.5 inches of rain had fallen in southern West Virginia since early Saturday and streams were still rising Sunday, said weather service meteorologist Dan Bartholf in Charleston.

At least 3 inches of rain fell in eastern Kentucky, where a 50-foot section of highway collapsed near Pikeville, said State Police Sgt. Jamey Kidd. No vehicles were caught by the collapse, he said.

Dozens of homes were destroyed or blown off their foundations in several areas of South Carolina's Sumter County, but authorities didn't immediately know if the cause was a tornado or straight-line wind, said county emergency management director Robert Baker Jr. One person was killed and four were seriously injured, he said.

In central Florida, a tornado damaged mobile homes in Dundee but no injuries were reported, police said.

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Associated Press writers Wayne Parry in Manahawkin, N.J., Daniela Flores in Trenton, N.J., and Tom Breen in Madison, W. Va., also contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/

National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com/