Schools

Westfield Issues Guidance As Hurricane Henri Nears

Westfield is under a flood watch as Hurricane Henri nears. The storm is expected to make landfall on Long Island. Track it here.

Will Hurricane Henri make a direct hit on Long Island? Track it with the National Hurricane Center link below. Pictured: A flash flood in North Jersey in July 2021 during Tropical Storm Elsa.
Will Hurricane Henri make a direct hit on Long Island? Track it with the National Hurricane Center link below. Pictured: A flash flood in North Jersey in July 2021 during Tropical Storm Elsa. (Caren Lissner/Patch)

WESTFIELD, NJ — The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for all of Union County through Monday as well as a tropical storm warning for eastern Union County due to Hurricane Henri, which is expected to make landfall on Long Island. (Track the storm using this National Hurricane Center link.)

"The Westfield Police and Fire Departments are closely monitoring the storm," Westfield said in an alert Saturday, "and the Downtown Westfield Corporation has advised all businesses to dismantle all outdoor dining items in anticipation of high winds. PSE&G has advised that they are preparing for the possibility of high winds that can cause flying debris and bring down trees and power lines."

Want breaking news when it happens in Westfield? Sign up for occasional breaking news alerts, and/or get a free daily newsletter at 6 a.m. each morning with local news. Sign up with your preferences here.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The forecast calls for "tropical storm conditions" Saturday night through all of Sunday. See the forecast for the Union County area here.

Read Patch coverage:

Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

While some may consider flash floods just an inconvenience, these floods have proved fatal to drivers (sometimes trapping parents and children) and people near even small streams.

Severe storms are becoming more frequent. In fact, Hurricane Elsa in July 2021 was the earliest E-named storm in modern weather history.

Want breaking news when it happens in your Union County town? Sign up for occasional breaking news alerts, and/or get a free daily newsletter at 6 a.m. each morning with local news. Sign up with your preferences here.

Got news? Email caren.lissner@patch.com. Got photos? Please include express written permission from the photographer for us to use them. To be the first to get free news alerts with breaking stories in your town, or to get a free local newsletter each morning, sign up for Patch breaking news alerts or daily newsletters.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.