Deep puddles formed on many streets and sidewalks among the urban canyons of Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn and Queens, and masses of water splashed over them. Videos also showed buses filling up while driving, and underpasses on bridges like those in Central Park were also impassable. According to the forecast, the rain is expected to last at least until Saturday night.
Hochul called the extreme weather a “life-threatening event,” and Mayor Eric Adams warned that the danger had not yet passed. New Yorkers’ cellphones vibrated several times Friday because of automated emergency alerts from the National Weather Service. The thick cloud cover made the streets look gloomy even in the middle of the day. The weather is coming from a persistent low pressure system that formed from Tropical Storm Ophelia.
“Service on our network is severely disrupted due to extreme rainfall,” public transport company MTA said. “Please stay home unless you need to travel.”
LaGuardia Airport, where mostly domestic flights depart and arrive, said Terminal A was closed “until further notice.” John F. Kennedy Airport also said the rain was causing disruptions to operations.
That morning and mid-morning, in just a few hours, some parts of New York received more rain than usual in a month.
According to information from the New York Times, September is the wettest in more than 140 years in the metropolis of 8 million inhabitants – since records began, only 1882 has received more precipitation. Many New Yorkers remembered the heavy rains that flooded the city two years ago as a result of Hurricane Ida. At that time, at least eleven people died because their basement apartments were full.