The rain was so extreme that, for the first time, the city was under a flash-flood emergency Wednesday night, the flood alert for the most dire rainfall situations. Shortly after midnight, the National Weather Service downgraded that alert to a flash-flood warning, which was to remain until 3 a.m., as the waters began to subside. computer models suggested that the rain would not relent in New York until about that time.
More than 9 million people reside in the flood emergency area.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) declared states of emergency late Wednesday, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) urged people to “stay off the streets tonight and let our first responders and emergency services get their work done.” Early Thursday morning, the city announced a travel ban, prohibiting “all non-emergency vehicles” from roads until 5 a.m..
Janno Lieber, acting CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in a statement that “torrential rains caused massive amounts of water to enter subways and flood roads, creating severe disruptions to service” on a “historic and challenging night.” He added that the agency was focused on helping evacuate people. An MTA spokesperson said people were taken off at least six subway trains that had been stuck between stations.
In New Jersey, Passaic Mayor Hector C. Lora told The Washington Post that a person had died after his vehicle sank underneath the floodwater.
Firefighters rescued other family members inside the vehicle, but they were unable to reach the person in time. Lora said he had talked to the family, which was “in complete shock.”
First responders in boats were trying to rescue people who were stranded in downtown Passaic.
At least two other people are believed to be dead, Lora said, though authorities were unable to confirm that before retrieving the bodies.
The National Weather Service described the flooding as “life-threatening,” predicting 3 to 5 inches to fall within an hour, after 2 to 3.5 inches had already poured down. Flood warnings extended to southern Connecticut shortly after midnight.
A single-family home in the Jamaica, Queens, neighborhood partially collapsed late Wednesday, the New York Fire Department confirmed. Twelve FDNY units responded to the scene about 11:15 p.m. after receiving reports of a water leak and flooding. One person was transported to Queens General Hospital, according to the fire department. The person’s condition was unknown.
As of 12:20 a.m. Thursday, a site that tracks electricity outages said 109,600 people were without power in Pennsylvania, and 91,600 in New Jersey and 31,700 in New York state.
Newark had received at least 7.2 inches on Wednesday, its wettest day in 90 years of record-keeping, according to Greg Diamond, a meteorologist for FOX Weather.
As the torrents poured down, social media photos and videos dramatic scenes of floodwaters swamping the infrastructure of the city and surrounding areas. Floodwaters entered Newark Airport.
“I have a foot+ water in the lower floors of my house and I know I’m not alone. Unreal,” tweeted Rob Marciano, a meteorologist for ABC’s Good Morning America.
The rain came as the remnants of Hurricane Ida interacted with a frontal system over the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Ahead of the deluge, the Weather Service had declared a rare “high risk” of excessive rainfall from southern and eastern Pennsylvania through New York City into Connecticut.
The flash-flood emergencies in New York City and Newark were among several issued Wednesday. Similar alerts were issued in central and eastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey.
The extreme precipitation hit New York City just after it recorded more than 10 inches of rainfall in August, about a half-foot above normal.
Rising temperatures because of human-induced climate change increase the frequency and intensity of heavy downpours, scientists say. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently projected that heavy precipitation will increase by 7 percent for every 1.8 (1 Celsius) degree of warming.
In just the past two weeks, New York City has observed three of its top 20 heaviest one-hour downpours on record; four of the top 20 have come this year. On Aug. 21, it received 1.69 and 1.84 inches in back-to-back hours. Another top-20 one-hour rainfall occurred on July 8, when 1.54 inches fell in a single hour.
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