Most storms pass through and go — a burst of wind and rain, then clear skies within a day. This one is different. A powerful nor'easter battered the Northeast again Sunday, flooding coastal communities and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses, as forecasters warned that another round of high tides could still swamp already vulnerable shorelines.

A Deadly Start to the Weekend

The slow-moving system had already claimed a life before Sunday even arrived — a New York City housing authority worker was killed Saturday when a falling tree struck them during the storm. Forecasters expected the system to linger through Sunday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous surf stretching from New Jersey up through New England.

A Storm Circling Rather Than Departing

As of Sunday morning, the storm remained parked just south of Long Island and east of northern New Jersey, and meteorologists expected it to loop around the region for roughly another 24 hours, according to Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland — a storm behaving less like a passing weather system and more like an unwelcome houseguest reluctant to leave.

Where the Worst Was Still to Come

The heaviest remaining rainfall was expected Sunday across northern New Jersey, through New York City and Long Island, and into southern New England. While the storm was gradually weakening, Oravec cautioned that the threat of tidal flooding would persist through both Sunday's morning and evening high-tide cycles.

Wind and Water, Not Rain, Pose the Real Danger

"The most impactful parts of the storm are likely going to be the high winds and the tidal flooding," Oravec said — a warning suggesting that even as the rain itself tapers off, the storm's most dangerous effects were far from finished.

Echoes of a Storm the Region Hasn't Forgotten

This nor'easter has inevitably stirred memories of Superstorm Sandy, which left more than $60 billion in damage across the eastern United States back in 2012. While this storm's impact has fallen far short of that historic devastation, meteorologists warn it could mark just the first of several such systems to strike the East Coast this fall, driven by an El Niño climate pattern currently disrupting typical seasonal weather.

Power Outages Spread Across the Region

More than 130,000 customers were without power across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic as of Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. The most widespread outages clustered along the New Jersey shore, New York's Long Island, and coastal counties throughout Connecticut. On Long Island specifically, toppled trees damaged homes and cars, blocked roadways, and downed numerous utility lines in their fall.

Federal Agencies Stay Ready

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said response coordination centers across affected regions were operating at an "enhanced posture," with additional teams standing by in New England in anticipation of potentially widespread outages there as well.

Scenes of Chaos and Unexpected Adventure

Saturday brought a strange mix of danger and spectacle across New Jersey and New York. Some residents kayaked down flooded streets, turning submerged roadways into makeshift waterways, while others headed toward beaches hoping to catch the unusually high waves. In Sea Bright, New Jersey, emergency crews rescued a woman and her dog after their vehicle became trapped in rising floodwaters, according to ABC7.

Marinas and Streets Feel the Surge

In Surf City, New Jersey, floodwaters rose inside a marina even after workers had relocated equipment to higher ground. Marina owner Kenny Formica said customers reported boats and Jet Skis either missing entirely or blown clear off their lifts by the storm's force. Meanwhile, in Norfolk, Virginia, floodwaters grew deep enough that passing cars pushed visible wakes through flooded streets, as though driving through shallow rivers rather than roadways.

Travel Plans Upended From Airports to Weddings

The storm's disruption extended well beyond flooded streets and power outages. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Boston Logan International Airport, while flooding cut off highway access to North Carolina's Hatteras Island entirely, stranding visitors there. One couple found their wedding plans thrown into chaos after most of their roughly 45 guests were unable to reach the island at all, forcing a last-minute scramble to relocate the entire ceremony.

As this nor'easter continues circling the region before finally moving on, its lingering threat of tidal flooding serves as a pointed reminder that for coastal communities up and down the East Coast, the danger from a slow-moving storm often outlasts the storm's own headline-grabbing winds and rain.