1h ago / 10:38 PM EDT
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.
1h ago / 10:25 PM EDT
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.”
Read the full story here.
2h ago / 9:53 PM EDT
A tree falls in Brooklyn
3h ago / 9:19 PM EDT
LaGuardia’s Terminal A reopens after flooding
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.
3h ago / 8:25 PM EDT
NY governor warns area could get 10 inches
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.
5h ago / 7:13 PM EDT
‘I don’t remember it being like this,’ says lifelong New Yorker
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.
5h ago / 6:35 PM EDT
Record-setting rain
5h ago / 6:33 PM EDT
LaGuardia, JFK airports top list of cancelled flights
The New York City airports of LaGuardia and JFK had the most cancellations of flights on FlightAware’s website today, after the region got soaked with heavy rains.
LaGuardia had 154 flights from the airport canceled, and 141 flights bound for the airport scrubbed, according to the flight-tracking site.
JFK saw 101 originating flights canceled, and 102 flights that were to travel to JFK canceled.
JFK, in southeastern Queens, got around 8 1/2 inches of rain today, according to the National Weather Service. LaGuardia got 4.87 inches.
5h ago / 6:28 PM EDT
NYC metro area could still see another 1 to 3 inches of rain
Already battered by heavy rains that flooded subway stations, streets and basement apartments, New York City and the area remain under a flood watch until 6 a.m. tomorrow.
More rain could fall on top of the more than 7 inches reported in Brooklyn and 5 inches at Manhattan’s Central Park, forecasters said.
There could be an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain, the National Weather Service said.
6h ago / 6:00 PM EDT
15 rescued from stalled vehicles in New York City
FDNY firefighters have rescued 15 people from vehicles that became stalled as heavy rain caused flooding in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams said.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, Adams said in an interview live on NBC New York late this afternoon.
There were also rescues at flooded basement apartments. “There’s an all-hands-on-deck moment as we deal with these storms, when they are here with us and long term,” Adams said.
“For the most part, we are getting through this storm. We’re ready for the rain that’s going to come this evening,” the mayor said.
