8.5 Million New Yorkers Under Flash Flood Warnings Amid Sustained Downpours

Parts of New York City were swamped with dangerous flash flooding on Friday as heavy and sustained downpours continued all night. A state of emergency was declared.

About 8.5 million people were under flash flood warnings, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), as overwhelmed sewers failed to adequately drain rainwater.

The state of emergency covers New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, New York Governor Kathy Hochul posted on X, previously known as Twitter.

Torrential Downpours Still Expected

New York’s US senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “stand ready, if requested”.

The flash floods have come less than three months after a storm triggered deadly floods in New York’s Hudson Valley and left Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, submerged.

One to five inches of rain have fallen in parts of New York City since early Friday, with one to two inches of rain an hour still expected in parts of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

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Services Suspended At Airports And Subway System

New York City’s major airports also took a hit. Based in Queens, LaGuardia international airport and the John F Kennedy Airport saw a number of flights getting cancelled or delayed.

Floodwaters also led to suspended service across much of New York’s subway system, according to updates from the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Heavy rainfall flooded streets, with people in Brooklyn and Queens urged to move to higher ground and not to wait for waters to rise if their homes began to flood.

Schools Experience Flooding, One Evacuated

Several netizens took to social media, uploading videos of chaos. One user on X posted a video of “serious flooding” in Brooklyn, with cars struggling to drive through the heavy rainfall.

Several schools in the New York City area are experiencing flooding. Although no children have been injured, parents changed plans and went to pick up their kids.

A school in Brooklyn was evacuated as its boiler was smoking, possibly because water had gotten inside, said David Banks, the schools chancellor, at a news briefing.