New York flooding 2023: State of emergency declared amid heavy rain | US News
Torrential rain and flash floods in New York City left streets underwater and suspended the subway service amid a state of emergency declaration.
Remnants from Tropical Storm Ophelia pounded the city Friday morning, hitting Brooklyn and Queens particularly hard. New Yorkers shared images of inundated streets, with water rising up half the diameter of some car wheels.
Subway service was suspended in some parts of the transit system and others saw heavy delays.
The city braced itself for up to seven inches of rain.
‘I am declaring a State of Emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley due to the extreme rainfall we’re seeing throughout the region,’ announced New York Governor Kathy Hochul shortly after 10am.
‘Please take steps to stay safe and remember to never attempt to travel on flooded roads.’
By early afternoon, Hochul reiterated her message to New Yorkers to ‘please avoid travel as much as possible’.
‘Turn around, don’t drown,’ she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). ‘We’re expecting to see more rain throughout today & tonight. Roads are closed & public transit is delayed or suspended in many areas due to flooding.’
Some parts of the city saw up to five inches of rain before 11am.
LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal A was shuttered, and John F Kennedy International Airport quickly recorded more than three inches of rain.
Rainfall is forecast into Saturday morning.
The National Weather Service called the weather event dangerous and life-threatening and said rainfall totals over 8 inches were ‘increasingly likely’ in some parts of the tri-state area that includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
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