New York was ravaged by a record-breaking rain
New York City Council Deputy Governor Eric Adams apologizes for the “Flash Floods” that have caused so many lives in the last few years
“It is critical that all New Yorkers take all necessary precautions and avoid flooded roads, which are some of the most dangerous places during flash floods,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement.
The governor urged New Yorkers to stay indoors if it was possible, and that the state would be prepared for any flash floods in the suburbs. Mayor Eric Adams was scheduled to hold a news conference with the governor at 11 a.m.
Workers on a street in a neighborhood in Brooklyn were stuck in water as they attempted to clear a storm drain while debris floated by. Some people arranged milk crates and wooden boards to cross flooded sidewalks.
As of 10 a.m., 4.28 inches of rain had fallen in Central Park since Thursday night, according to the Weather Service, 3.90 inches of it since midnight. The Weather Office reported that nearly half a foot of rain had fallen in Brooklyn.
NEW YORK — One of New York’s wettest days in decades left the metropolitan area stunned and swamped Friday after heavy rainfall knocked out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranded drivers on highways, flooded basements and shuttered a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.
A crowd stood outside the Clark Street station in Brooklyn Heights at 9 a.m. unsure of how to proceed. The tracks at one of the deepest subway stops flooding when the train goes under the East River to Manhattan.
Optimists headed to the A train stop at High Street, a few blocks away, where trains were meant to be running. But there were major delays and at one point an announcer inexplicably advised passengers, most of whom were headed to Manhattan, to consider taking the Long Island Railroad.
New York City Limits on Flooding Causes Widespread Flooding in a Flood-Roaded Basement Home after Hurricane Ida
A girl huddled closer to a companion as water swept downhill and scolded her for leaving her rain gear at home. A teenage boy ducked out of the way of a younger peer’s pink unicorn umbrella, which threatened to stab him on the face.
The sidewalks on Manhattan’s Upper East Side were flooded. Many people tried to brave the morning commute, running to the Q station on the corner of 83rd and Second Avenue in rain jackets and water-logged shoes. Undeterred by the heavy rain, one man squelched down a flooded sidewalk for his morning run.
All lanes of the Belt Parkway were closed in both directions at Cropsey Avenue in Brooklyn because of flooding, parts of the F.D.R. Drive were experiencing delays and all lanes on the Cross Island Parkway were closed. The area around Kennedy International Airport, in Queens, had reported more than 3 inches of rain. At La Guardia, travelers were told to avoid the area around Terminal A, which was closed.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida made their way down the river and killed 11 people. The city has long known about the dangers of the vast network of basement homes, and sought to legalize them so they can be held to higher safety standards. But so far, they have failed to do so.
In another interview on Friday morning, the governor told NBC that officials had received reports from some schools that were experiencing flooding, though she said no children were “in danger.”
Source: Heavy Rain Causes Widespread Flooding in New York
New York City Swepped by Record-Breaking Rainfall as More Downpours Expected Saturday (Fractional Storm Ida)
Six people contributed to this article: Claire Fahy, Mihir Zaveri, Jonah E. Bromwich, Emma Fitzsimmons, Luis Ferré-Sadurn, and Patrick McGeehan.
Parts of Brooklyn saw more than 7.25 inches (18.41 centimeters), with at least one spot recording 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials.
The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments. Although no deaths or severe injuries have been reported, Friday’s storm stirred frightening memories.
Three of Joy Wong’s neighbors were killed by Ida. And on Friday, water began lapping against the front door of her building in Woodside, Queens.
Within minutes, water filled the building’s basement nearly to the ceiling. After the family’s deaths in 2021, the basement was turned into a recreation room. It is now destroyed.
Source: New York swamped by record-breaking rainfall as more downpours expected Saturday
New York swamped by record-breaking rainfall as more downpours expected Saturday: A Manhattan student’s story unfolds on a crossroad
“When it stops the buses, you know it’s bad,” Brooklyn high school student Malachi Clark said after trying to get home by bus, then subway. The buses ran, but only a small portion of public school students are transported.
A long line of people snaked from the ticket counter in the afternoon at Grand Central Terminal, where Mike Tags was among those whose trains had been canceled. Railroad employees had suggested possible workarounds, but he wondered whether they would work out.
Traffic hit a standstill earlier in the day on a stretch of the FDR Drive, a major artery along Manhattan’s east side. With water above car tires, some drivers abandoned their vehicles.
She said she spent 3 hours in her car which was stuck on a piece of the highway that was not flooded but was not moving.
Water in the refueling area caused flights to be delayed in the morning. The airport’s three terminals had to be closed for several hours due to flooding. Around 8pm, Terminal A started to resume normal operations.
A Brooklyn school was evacuated because its boiler was smoking, possibly because water got into it, Schools Chancellor David Banks said. Another Brooklyn school was mopping up ground-floor classrooms, City Councilwoman Crystal Hudson said in an email seeking volunteers to help.
The hockey game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders was postponed. A sea lion escaped her swollen pool at the Central Park Zoo. The zoo was closed because of the weather, but she looked around before going back to the pool.
Source: New York swamped by record-breaking rainfall as more downpours expected Saturday
Why So Much Rain? Answer to a New York City Observer’s Question about Tropical Storm Ophelia and the Atlantic Ocean’s Mid-Latitude System
In Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, Jessie Lawrence awoke to the sound of rain dripping from the ceiling of her fourth-floor apartment and heard strange sounds outside her front door.
She opened the door to find “the water was coming in thicker and louder,” pouring into the hallway and flowing down the stairs, she said. There was rain pooling on the roof and leaking through the skylights.
Why so much rain? At a time of the year when conditions coming off the ocean are particularly ripe for storms, the remnant of Tropical Storm Ophelia over the Atlantic Ocean combined with a mid-latitude system arriving from the west are present, according to Ross Dickman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. There was a storm in New York for 12 hours.
The emergency managers were told to expect up to 15 centimeters of rain in certain places and that the weather service warned of 3 to 5 inches of rain.
As the planet warms, storms are forming in a hotter atmosphere that can hold more moisture, making extreme rainfall more frequent, according to atmospheric scientists.
