Fierce Storm Continues to Buffet Northeast States With Wind, Snow : Weather: Blizzard conditions persist in many areas as tempest stalls offshore. At least 15 deaths are blamed on the huge northeaster.

Lashing winds, snow and rain persisted Saturday along the Atlantic Coast as a massive northeaster tore seaside homes off their foundations and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Pounding surf flooded seaside New Jersey communities for the second day. The sea wall in Sea Bright crumbled in two places, sending water rushing into the town through 50-foot gaps. Some vacation homes were swept off their foundations.

The Red Cross kept open more than a dozen shelters, where 5,000 people stayed Friday. Many evacuees returned to flooded neighborhoods to find streets buried under sand and debris.

Winds that reached 80 m.p.h. toppled trees in the Philadelphia area Friday. As winds subsided to under 30 m.p.h. Saturday, people began to clean up the mess.

Massachusetts and Connecticut endured blizzard conditions. High tides and winds gusting to 60 m.p.h. forced the evacuation of coastal residents. Ferry service to the Massachusetts communities of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard was halted because of rough seas.

“This is one wicked storm,” said Bernice Begin, 43, of Bridgeport, Conn., as flood waters came within a few feet of her front steps.

“We’ve got at least one cottage that was swept out to sea,” said Mark Barnhart, town manager in Stratford, Conn.

No immediate relief was in sight as the tempest stalled offshore.

“This storm just isn’t going anywhere in a heck of a hurry,” said Alan Dunham, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Hartford, Conn.

At least 15 deaths since Thursday were blamed on the storm, including victims crushed by roofs collapsing under heavy snow. Tens of thousands of people were without electrical power Saturday.

More than 20 pilot whales, apparently disoriented by the storm, beached themselves on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. They were caught too close to shore during low tide, officials said.

Ten of the whales died and four were trapped in the swollen Pamet River and carried into the town of Truro. Two of the whales were rescued, said Kathy Shorr of the Center for Coastal Studies.

Overnight in Connecticut, rescue workers used boats, helicopters and dump trucks to carry evacuees to safety. More than a dozen people were treated for hypothermia. Numerous traffic accidents were reported on ice-slicked highways.

In Pittsburgh, Pa., three printing company workers were killed Friday when a roof collapsed. Six others died in Pennsylvania on Thursday. Deaths in other states included people killed in car crashes on slippery roads and at least two people swept away by floodwaters.

The fierce winds coming from the northeast shifted slightly northward Saturday, creating more snow and less rain than Friday, when up to four inches fell on coastal New Jersey.

Snow blew sideways in New York City, driven by winds gusting to 40 m.p.h. as thousands of Christmas shoppers reclaimed the streets.

“The lights and the decorations in the city are well worth it,” said Joyce Ghent of Portland, Conn. She had tickets to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show and added with a sigh: “We may never get home.”

New York’s La Guardia Airport reopened shortly after noon, despite steady snow. Planes had been grounded there Friday.

Boston’s Logan Airport was closed for three hours Saturday. More than half of its flights were canceled there and at other airports.

Nearly 27 inches of snow fell in Worcester, Mass., by Saturday night. Parts of New Jersey, Connecticut and Upstate New York had more than a foot of snow.

In suburban New York City, at least five inches of snow was on the ground in Westchester County. In Rochester, N.Y., hardware store owner Joe Benfante sold all his snow shovels.

“Lots of people broke the one they had because the snow’s so heavy, and a couple people had them stolen off their front porch,” he said.

Governors in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia and West Virginia issued disaster declarations on Friday.

On Friday, the storm submerged streets and destroyed dozens of homes along the shorelines of Long Island and the Brooklyn borough of New York. Mass transit in and out of New York City came to a virtual standstill before most rail lines were reopened Friday night. Some New Jersey trains remained closed Saturday because of flooding in stations.

“If you live in California, you get earthquakes,” said Richard Lovett of Longport, N.J., as he swept water out of his basement. “If you live in India, you expect that one of your kids might get eaten by a tiger. If you live near the ocean, you expect a little salt water.”

Yachts, piers and docks were severely damaged at New York’s 79th Street Boat Basin and at City Island in the Bronx.