TROPICAL Storm Henri made landfall at 12.15pm yesterday near Westerly, Rhode Island, with winds of 97km per hour, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said, as thousands of people already without electricity braced for the full effect of the storm.

Tropical storm warnings were extended from coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island to the luxurious oceanfront estates of the Hamptons on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, with over 100,000 power outages reported for customers up the northern East Coast as of 5pm, most in Rhode Island, Xinhua reported.