What you need to know about the storm hitting the Northeast
A flood watch covered New York City and the region until 6 a.m. Saturday, but was later canceled for all but New Haven County, Conn., and Suffolk County on Long Island.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Mayor Eric Adams issued a separate state of emergency for New York City.
Subway stations flooded, and service on some lines were suspended earlier in the day. Metro-North service was also disrupted by flooding.
As of 9:30 p.m. more than 8 inches of rain fell at JFK airport in New York City, and over 7 inches was reported in Brooklyn, according to the National Weather Service. Central Park got over 5 inches of rain, and Fordham in the Bronx saw over 6 inches.
1d ago / 8:38 AM +06
Flood watches canceled for all but New Haven and Suffolk County
Flood watches that had been in place for the New York City and the tri-state area until tomorrow were canceled for all but part of Connecticut and Long Island late tonight, the weather service said.
SHARE THIS -
1d ago / 8:25 AM +06
How climate change is testing limits of city’s infrastructure
The storm, which hit just two years after flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida battered the five boroughs and killed at least 13 people in the city, laid bare how vulnerable the Big Apple’s aging infrastructure is to extreme weather events that are intensified by climate change. And more than a decade after Hurricane Sandy forced officials to rethink the meaning of climate resilience in New York City, it appears there’s still much to be done.
Heavy rainfall of up to 2.5 inches per hour were reported in some of the hardest-hit places. A number of roads were closed, cars were submerged and several city buses were trapped as a result of flash flooding. Subways, regional rail lines and air travel was suspended or severely delayed, and at least one school in Brooklyn was evacuated during the storm.
“The reality staring city leaders in the face, including in places like New York, is that the climate is getting more extreme, more unpredictable and requiring more investment,” said Joseph Kane, a fellow who focuses on infrastructure at the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit think tank. “Usually, it’s too little too late.”
LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal A reopened tonight after being closed earlier due to flooding, the airport said.
“All access to Terminal A is currently opened. All operations have resumed normal,” the airport said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The terminal had been closed earlier today due to floods from heavy rains that struck New York City and the region. LaGuardia got 4.87 inches of rain as of 5 p.m.
On the ground, more of the Metro-North commuter railroad system reopened after being closed in New York City due to flooding. The New Haven line resumed service after flooding was cleared in The Bronx, and the Harlem line reopened in some sections.
All three lines are now running, Metro-North said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the New York City area could get 10 inches of rain in all, and warned residents to take it seriously.
“This is Hurricane Ida-level waters,” Hochul said, referring to the storm that struck New York City in 2021 that caused flooding all over the city, killing some in their basement apartments.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported in the storm that struck New York today, but there have been rescues at basement apartments and from stalled vehicles.
“It is not finished yet. There is more rain on the way,” she said Friday evening. She urged all New Yorkers to continue to be vigilant.
SHARE THIS -
1d ago / 4:55 AM +06
‘I don’t remember it being like this,’ says lifelong New Yorker
George Solis
Josiah Gluck spent an hour in a rideshare today so he could avoid the heavy rains that pelted the city on his way to his job in Manhattan. He said he doesn’t recall such widespread impacts from rainfall in the past.
“I grew up in Manhattan,” Gluck said. “I don’t remember it being like this, where the subways [in] the rain or the snowstorms, would just completely grind to a halt.”
Subway lines were shut down due to heavy rain, and stations flooded. By 5 p.m. Brooklyn had received more than 7 inches of rain, and Central Park over 5 inches.
Brenden Alberti, of Brooklyn, said he wasn’t prepared for the rain, but he loves it. “It washes all the bad energy out there, so that ain’t bad,” he said. He was worried about finding flooding when he returns home.
“I’m scared of that, but we’ll be all right,” he said. Informed that Brooklyn was getting hit hard by rain, he was nonchalant. “That’s Brooklyn for you," he said.
