Millions Warned That Henri Is Officially a Hurricane

The storm could weaken before making landfall Sunday
By Liz MacGahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 21, 2021 12:45 PM CDT
It's Official: Henri Is Now At Hurricane Strength
Henri in the Atlantic Ocean. Henri intensified to hurricane strength on Saturday according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.   (NOAA via AP)

Henri is a hurricane now, upgraded from tropical storm Saturday morning. The National Hurricane Center had already warned that the storm could increase in intensity and hit New England. The storm’s sustained winds now exceed 74mph and it could ramp up even more, though “some weakening is expected prior to landfall on Sunday,” the agency said, per the New York Times. It’s expected to hit Long Island in New York, or southern New England.

Hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings in the region affect more than 40 million people, including New York City, CNN reports. Henri will be the first hurricane to make landfall on Long Island since Gloria in 1985. Henri is not expected to be as bad as Sandy, which killed power and caused flooding in 2012. But the Long Island power company, PSEG, warned customers to be ready for outages that could last about a week. (More Hurricane Henri stories.)

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