NEW YORK, April 16: Three people died on Sunday in a worst spring storm known as the North Easter that wreaked havoc on the East Coast, with wind gusting over 55 miles an hour and relentless rain.

It forced evacuations in some parts of the north eastern United States.

The New Jersey state declared a state of emergency and shut down schools and other non-essential institutions.

Airlines cancelled over 500 flights at the New York area’s three major airports, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told reporters. Dozens more were cancelled in Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere in New England.

New York City opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations, and ferry service to Fire Island was cancelled because of the storm.

The Metro-North Railroad suspended service on two of its branches for several hours because of flooding.

There were sustained winds of 30 to 35mph and gusts of up to 48mph at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Sunday’s high tide was likely to bring coastal flooding on Long Island and in parts of New York City, the weather service said.

People living many low-lying areas along the coast left their homes, hundreds of flights were cancelled, power was knocked out in pockets across the region and many roads were swamped.

“My one word of advice is to stay home,” New Jersey state’s Transportation Commissioner said, “people think they can drive through flooding, and they stuck.”

One news report said that at least three tornadoes touched down in South Carolina on Sunday. The most destructive cut a 14-mile long, 300-yard-wide swath through Sumter County in the central part of the state, killing a woman who was thrown from her mobile home and seriously injuring four other people.

The storm dumped some 8 to 12 inches of rain water in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

All of the area airports were shutdown for a brief period as flights were cancelled or delay indefinitely.

One person died in South Carolina, and two died in car accidents – one in upstate New York and one in Connecticut.

The storm rattled the Gulf states on Friday and Saturday with violent thunderstorms, raked Texas with at least two tornadoes and was blamed for five deaths before heading northeast.

According to news agencies up to 18 inches of heavy, wet snow was expected across the higher elevations of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. On the coast, strong winds and driving rain sent fishing boats to port, and residents prepared for coastal flooding.

Dozens of mobile homes were destroyed or knocked off their foundations, in many states.