Widespread flash flooding grinds New York City to halt amid record-breaking rain
The already heavily saturated region received several inches of rain within hours across all five boroughs of the city, knocking out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranding drivers on highways, flooding basements and even shutting a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.
7-plus inches of rain drenches New York, New Jersey, Connecticut
One of New York City's wettest days in decades left the nation's largest city stunned and swamped as Tropical Storm Ophelia's remnants pushed onshore.
NEW YORK – One of New York City's wettest days in decades left the nation's largest city stunned and swamped as Tropical Storm Ophelia's remnants pushed onshore Friday.
The already heavily saturated region received several inches of rain within hours across all five boroughs of the city, knocking out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranding drivers on highways, flooding basements and even shutting a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.
New York City, Long Island, and Hudson Valley, had widespread rainfall between 4 and 6 inches, with some areas experiencing well over 7 inches of rain.
Just over 8 inches of rain had fallen at JFK Airport by the end of the night. The National Weather Service said Friday's weather broke the airport's all-time daily rainfall record, surpassing Hurricane Irene's daily record from Aug. 14, 2011 by a quarter of an inch. The community of Valley Stream on Long Island reported receiving the highest rainfall total of 9.10 inches within 24 hours.
PARTS OF NEW YORK SEE WETTEST DAY ON RECORD AS LIFE-THREATENING FLOODING SUBMERGES SUBWAYS, STREETS
Watch: Whirlpool forms on Brooklyn's 4th Avenue amid flash flooding
Video by Phuong Van Huynh shows a whirlpool forming above a storm drain on Brooklyn’s 4th Avenue, as floodwater engulfed cars and brought traffic to a crawl.
States of emergencies declared in the New York, New Jersey
Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared states of emergencies in their respective states as floodwaters wreaked havoc. Aside from the record flooding in the New York City area, several inches of rain also fell in New Jersey ranging from Manasquan to Newark. But no injuries or missing people were reported from the weather event.
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Drone video shows extent of flooding across New York
Aerial video of flooding along the Bronx River Parkway in New York.
As streets turned into rivers, multiple water rescues occurred as drivers became stranded in stalled vehicles now surrounded by murky floodwaters.
Fairfield, New Jersey police illustrated one such example of the perils of driving Friday by showing one of their officers rescuing a driver who became stranded in feet of floodwaters.
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Water rescues underway in New Jersey as extreme rain turns Fairfield streets into raging rivers
Fairfield Police Department Corporal Steven D’Argenio is seen performing a water rescue of someone who was trapped in his car in a parking lot on Passaic Avenue in Essex County, New Jersey.
‘There was a lot of panicking’
Floodwaters from the torrential downpours began to seep through the doors of a Brooklyn bus, causing panic and passengers to put their feet on the seats.
Footage was captured by Adrian Franks, who said they were near the back of the bus when they "saw that the water from outside was creeping into the inside of the bus pretty fast." Franks said the bus kept driving through the floodwaters, adding that "there was a lot of panicking."
Passengers panic on Brooklyn bus as floodwater rushes In
Passengers on a Brooklyn bus began to panic and put their feet up on the seats as floodwaters caused by torrential downpours began to seep through the doors on Friday, September 29. (Video: Adrian Franks via Storyful)
In the video, people can be seen standing and crouching on seats as trash and an umbrella floats in the water on the bus floor. "This is insane," someone can be heard saying.
Others who braved the roads found themselves in traffic gridlock as many highways and parkways were closed because of flooding.
Cars in floodwater on the FDR highway in Manhattan, New York on September 29, 2023. (ED JONES/AFP / Getty Images)
In Brooklyn, numerous vehicles were stuck with water reaching up to their windows on the Prospect Expressway. Floodwaters also caused closures along various roadways, such as the Hutchison River Parkway, Bronx Run Parkway, Major Deegan Expressway, Grand Central Parkway and a section of the FDR Drive, to name a few.
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Floodwater pours down a staircase inside apartment building in Washington Heights, NY
Rainwater flooded an apartment building in the Washington Heights neighborhood as torrential downpours caused flash flooding across New York City on Friday morning.
But it wasn't just streets covered in water. Buildings and subways strained under the records rains, with even one stairway in Washington Heights turning into an impromptu waterfall.
Floodwaters were also seen cascading down stairs in a Brooklyn subway station, illustrating the massive system-wide disruptions to rail and bus services.
Footage filmed by Wynter Gray shows the water rushing down the stairs in the Grand Army Plaza subway station on Friday. Landslides with mud were also reported by emergency management in the hillier terrain of Lower Westchester.
Water gushes down subway stairs during flooding in Brooklyn
Floodwaters cascaded down stairs in a Brooklyn subway station as torrential downpours hit New York on Friday, September 29.
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The flooding caused inconveniences for commuters who were driving or taking trains, as well as those traveling through LaGuardia Airport.
The water level rose high enough to flood the parking lots and ramps, causing Terminal A to close. Flights to and from the area airports were still running, but there were intermittent ground delays due to heavy rain in the region.
Major flooding shuts down LaGuardia Airport terminal as heavy rain soaks NYC
Floodwaters inundated parts of New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Friday, shutting down one of its terminals until
Surveys are still underway to determine if damage values will be significant enough for the State of New York to request federal aide. Governor Kathy Hochul said the assessment process could last several weeks before local and state officials get a better sense of how damaging the flash flooding was.
New York’s deadly flood past
It was the second major city-wide flash flooding event in New York City in the two years.
On Sept. 1, 2021, the New York and New Jersey area were swamped with heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ida which had days earlier caused widespread destruction in Florida as a Category 4 storm.
Historic NYC-area Ida rainfall deemed as likely as once-in-millennium event
Over three inches of rain fell in one hour at one point in NYC and Newark, New Jersey, smashing hourly rainfall records in both locations.
As the remnants of Hurricane Ida combined forces with a warm front pushing into New England, over three inches of rain fell in one hour at one point in New York City and Newark, New Jersey, smashing hourly rainfall records in both locations. By the time the evening was done, over 7 inches of rain fell across New York City while Newark had measured 8.44 inches of rain.
Over 50 people died in the floods; many trapped in windowless basement units as water came pouring in.Analysts with the Office of Water Prediction have pored over the rainfall data and determined that event had a probability of 0.1% of happening in any given year.