Soaking in the city! NYC rain eases at last but flood risks remain after Big Apple recorded wettest day EVER that saw flights canceled, subways shut, cars submerged – and even a sea lion swim for freedom
- Nonstop rain impacted 23 million across the tri-state area on Friday
- Governor Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency in the morning
- Mayor Eric Adams warned in the afternoon the rain wasn’t over, but rain has since started to ease
Rain has started to ease in New York but officials are warning that a flood risk remains in place after the region was pounded with the heavy deluge.
Heavy rain caused flooding across the region on Friday, leading Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency, as rising waters disrupted travel and stranded people in cars and homes.
The flood watch has been cancelled for all locations except New Haven County, Connecticut and Suffolk County New York as of Friday night.
But as city officials warned New Yorkers to stay at home and brace for the worst, startling scenes began to emerge around the city.
A whirlpool formed above a storm drain in Brooklyn, water gushing into brownstone basements with people seeking refuge outside and a sea lion attempting to escape her enclosure.
Rain has started to ease in New York but officials are warning that a flood risk remains in place after the region was pounded with the heavy deluge – but it didn’t stop a sea lion from trying to escape during the deluge
Video shows a Fairfield Police Department showed stranded motorists being rescued while a whirlpool formed in Brooklyn after the heavy rains
A female sea lion named Sally made a splashy escape from the confines of Central Park Zoo, navigating the flooded area after a relentless downpour in the Big Apple on Friday.
The marine mammal was captured swimming out of her enclosure and plunging into a newly formed pool carved out by rain in Central Park, New York.
Sea lion Sally ‘briefly explored the flooded plaza inside the zoo’ and ‘returned to the enclosure,’ the officials said.
President of Wildlife Conservation Society Monica Median wrote: ‘The sea lions are safe and back in their enclosure and we will monitor them all night’
She added that her team is on top of the situation in response to viral videos on social media showing animals escaped from Central Park Zoo.
‘The sea lion was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today,’ Wildlife Conservation Society’s executive vice president, Jim Breheny, said in a statement
Flooding throughout the city prompted Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochui to declare states of emergency which are still in effect as of Friday evening
‘She explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions,’ he added. ‘The water levels have receded, and the animals are contained in their exhibit.’
Officials also clarified that the sea lion never crossed outside the boundaries of the zoo and were not at any risk during the flooding.
The zoo closed on Friday morning, just before the brunt of the rainfall that inundated other parts of the city.
The Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium were all closed due to extreme weather.
Flooding throughout the city prompted Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochui to declare states of emergency which are still in effect as of Friday evening.
Hochui said it’s a ‘life-threatening rainfall event and Mayor Adams called the storm ‘something that we cannot take lightly and we are not taking lightly.’
Some 23million people are now under a flood warning across the tri-state area and entire streets in Brooklyn are underwater. Terminal A at LaGuardia has been closed due to weather conditions
He was swiftly criticized after taking nearly four hours to issue a shelter-in-place or give any guidance on a fast-escalading flash flood disaster.
More than 7 inches of rain had fallen in Brooklyn and Queens from the overnight hours through Friday afternoon, with the JFK International Airport received nearly 8 inches of rain.
The New York tri-state area will likely stay rainy until Saturday.
While additional rain is possible overnight, it should mainly be on the lighter side with highest chance of heavy rain remaining in the watch.
The downpours are occurring due to the remains of Tropical Storm Ophelia with converging winds located just to the north, Fox Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond told The Post.
New Yorkers were warned to prepare to seek higher ground on Sunday as post-tropical cyclone Ophelia continued to hammer the East Coast with wet weather.
Ophelia was a tropical storm at near-hurricane strength when it crashed down near Emerald Isle in North Carolina on September 24.
It knocked out power and flooded coastal streets. States of emergency were declared last week in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
The rain, a hangover from Tropical Storm Ophelia, is some of the worst seen in New York City since Hurricane Ida in 2021, when 13 people drowned in basement apartments after being caught off-guard.
‘Today’s weather isn’t done with us yet. We might see up to eight inches of rain by tomorrow morning,’ Mayor Eric Adams warned as he issued a travel advisory until Saturday at 6am. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said the city is on track to register its wettest day ever. The current record is 8.28inches in a single day.
Some 23million people are now under a flood warning across the tri-state area and entire streets in Brooklyn are underwater, with governor Kathy Hochul declaring a state of emergency.
Terminal A at LaGuardia has been closed due to weather conditions, with footage shared online showing the waiting area under water, and New York’s John F Kennedy airport already recorded nearly eight inches of rain since midnight, breaking the previous record for the wettest day.
New York’s John F Kennedy airport already recorded nearly eight inches of rain since midnight, breaking the previous record for the wettest day
Terminal A at LaGuardia airport is seen above on Friday afternoon
People wait for the bus in Brooklyn as trains get cancelled due to flooding from heavy rains
Images of the park show the iconic area completely under water after it’s registered a total of 5.46 inches
New York City has declared a state of emergency as the city prepares to be dumped with up to seven inches of rain on Friday. New York City Department of Environmental Protection workers attempt to clear blocked drains after heavy rains
The NYC subway is almost entirely suspended and buses in Brooklyn took on water as they tried to wade through the floods. The state is arranging how to get children home from school, with work being done to try to get buses and trains running before they’re dismissed.
By noon, most of New York City had crossed the five inches of rainfall mark, with southern Brooklyn getting the worst of it, 6.78 inches.
Almost two inches of rain fell in Manhattan ‘s Central Park in just one hour, which makes it the wettest hour there in 80 years, as reported by CNN. Images of the park show the iconic area completely under water after it’s registered a total of 5.46 inches.
The rainfall, which has already reached a rate of one to two inches an hour, significantly affected the morning commutes of millions of New Yorkers, with social media users sharing footage of the chaotic scene across the area, including shocking video of a flooded subway stations and buses.
New York City ‘s roads have turned to rivers as the tri-state area is hit with record rainfall. Special Operations Unit rescue personnel with the Westchester County Emergency Services paddle in rafts as they check buildings for victims trapped in heavy flooding
A car is pushed through flooded streets in the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn
The downpour is expected to continue into Saturday and soak the tri-state area, with the National Weather Service calling it dangerous and life-threatening, and extending a flood watch from 2am on Friday through the night.
Commissioner of New York City’s Office of Emergency Management Zach Iscol said Friday was ‘the wettest day we’ve had since Hurricane Ida swept this city.’
The area from Central New Jersey to Manhattan, Long Island and into Southern Connecticut and the Hudson Valley are forecast to see the most rainfall. Philadelphia and Boston could also see up to two inches of rain, and Hartford up to three inches or more.
While most of the tri-state area is expected to get three to five inches of rainfall, some areas further out from NYC’s five boroughs could get as much as seven. The counties of Nassau, Queens and Kings, which includes Brooklyn, are either experiencing flooding on Friday morning or expected to.
Traffic makes its way through flood waters along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway on Friday
Other parts of the city has seen as much as five inches before 11am and subway services are largely suspended. Brooklyn flooding is pictured above
A person walks away from his vehicle after it got stuck in high water on the Prospect Expressway
‘I just spoke with about the flooding emergency in NYC. MTA is working hard to get the subway system rebooted and up and running again for evening rush. Another round of extreme rain in afternoon may complicate. Alternate buses may be deployed. More details soon,’ Manhattan Borough President Levine posted on X.
Hochul’s office said it is deploying flood rescue teams to the Hudson Valley and Long Island.
NYC officials sent an emergency alert to cellphones about 9.30am. It read: ‘A FLASH FLOOD WARNING is in effect for this area until 12:30pm EDT,’ it read. ‘This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.’
Amtrak services originating out of New York’s Penn Station have also been affected and may experience delays, Amtrak said on X.
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Brooklyn and Queens have been hit particularly hard this morning. Park Slope, Brooklyn is pictured above
The potential flood threat can be dangerous for cities like New York, considering how Hurricane Ida drowned 11 including a two-year-old boy in their basement apartments in 2021.
During Ida, the city experienced between six and ten inches of rain in 24 hours. Brooklyn resident Steve Kastenbaum posted a picture of the flooding in Flushing Avenue on Brooklyn, calling it ‘worse than Ida.’
The rain is supposed to lighten by Friday evening but will spill into Saturday morning. City officials issued a travel advisory starting at 4am Friday through 6am Saturday, warning potential ‘widespread travel impacts’ during the morning commute.
The MTA said the rain will ‘inevitably’ cause issues in the subway system, and some routes have already been affected.
‘There are no 2/3/4/5 service in Brooklyn. We’ll provide more details shortly while we address water on the tracks in Brooklyn,; the MTA posted on Friday morning.
New York City was drenched on Friday as flash flooding hit the roads during rush hour and up to seven inches of rain are forecast. The Prospect Expressway in Mamaroneck in Westchester County is pictured above
The potential flood threat can be dangerous, considering how Hurricane Ida drowned 11 including a two-year-old boy in their basement apartments in 2021. Queens pictured above
Hochul said earlier on Friday: ‘Brooklyn is seeing some of the heaviest impacts of this rainstorm — all Brooklynites should be extremely careful right now.’
The MTA tried to get ahead of the storm as workers started checking storm drains at the 157th Street subway station on Thursday.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said: ‘No matter what we do, there is going to be water in the subway system … The good news is this system is designed to take water and to pump it out in huge amounts,’
The MTA will monitor conditions and make repairs as needed throughout the storm after activating its 24-hour situation room.
Lieber added in a statement: ‘This is a serious storm, and we’re taking it seriously.’
Even a mere inch of rain could lead to flooding in certain areas of NYC and nearby regions that still remain saturated from last weekend’s storm.
The MTA said the rain will ‘inevitably’ affect the subway systems, and some routes have already been affected. Brooklyn is pictured
Mayor Eric Adams shared a warning about the severe weather expected in NYC
The downpours are occurring due to the remains of Tropical Storm Ophelia with converging winds located just to the north, Fox Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond told The Post.
New Yorkers were warned to prepare to seek higher ground on Sunday as post-tropical cyclone Ophelia continued to hammer the East Coast with wet weather.
Ophelia was a tropical storm at near-hurricane strength when it crashed down near Emerald Isle in North Carolina on September 24.
It knocked out power and flooded coastal streets. States of emergency were declared last week in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
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