New York Declares State Of Emergency Amid Heavy Rainfall And Flash

Parts of New York City were swamped with dangerous flash flooding on Friday as intense rainfall continued after pouring all night, and a state of emergency was declared amid warnings from officials that the deluge could turn deadly.

About 8.5 million people were under flash flood warnings in the New York City area, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The city’s concrete and pavement exacerbated flooding, as overwhelmed sewers failed to adequately drain rainwater during the heavy and sustained downpours.

The extreme weather established this as not only the wettest day in New York since the remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped record-breaking rain on the north-east and killed at least 13 people in the city, most of whom were in flooded basement apartments; it also led to chaos across the city and surrounding region.

The New York boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens were especially badly hit with streets flooded, cars abandoned and buildings inundated, and much of the city’s public transport network ground to a halt. The NWS reported “multiple reports of water rescues and motorists” stranded in flood waters in Nassau county, New York.

“That is not a statistic to take lightly,” the city’s emergency management commissioner, Zachary Iscol, said Friday about it being the wettest day in two years. “It highlights just how crucial it is for all of us to pay close attention to the weather advisories and to always take the necessary precautions.”

City officials warned residents to exercise extreme caution and stay in shelter. Some drivers on the FDR highway that runs up the east side of Manhattan abandoned their vehicles in the floodwaters.

The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on Friday because of the “extreme rainfall”. The declaration covers New York City, Long Island and the Hudson valley, Hochul posted on X, formerly known as Twitter._The Guardians