After days of smoky skies and rising temperatures, the Big Apple and surrounding areas were battered by severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flash flooding on Saturday.
The National Weather Service said 2 to 4 inches of rain was expected to fall by early Saturday afternoon, with up to 1 inch of rain per hour.
The heaviest rain fell in lower Manhattan, western Brooklyn and Queens, city emergency management officials said. Residents of basement apartments were urged to move to upper floors.
Video showed multiple submerged vehicles on the road above the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and two men standing in front of the windshield of a white truck. Another man was seen wading through waist-high water. In some areas, sidewalks were covered in muddy water. Video from Woodside, Queens shows streets under several feet of water.
Car tires submerged in flood waters in Queens
On the eve of Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey, heavy rain caused flight delays and cancellations at LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports. Some flights arriving at Kennedy Airport were delayed on average by an hour and 35 minutes, according to the FAA.
Heavy rains also hit New Jersey, with flash flood warnings issued for several counties. In Newark, police and firefighters responded to a call of five cars trapped in heavy water and rescued the drivers and passengers with no reports of injuries, Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also warned of possible power outages, fallen trees and road closures.
“I want to remind everyone to take this weather seriously,” Hochul said in a statement Friday.
The rain comes as people in the Northeast breathe in dangerous air brought on by thick, choking smoke from Canada’s wildfires. There were about 1,000 fires burning across Canada as of Saturday, according to the Canadian government.
Rain, wind shifts and cold fronts should eventually help clear the smoke, but air quality may not improve everywhere immediately.
The city’s subway system was disrupted in multiple locations after water poured onto the tracks, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.
As expected, the weather caused havoc on the roads.
All lanes of the Long Island Expressway at 188th Street were closed in both directions due to flooding, the New York City Police Department said. The Clearview Expressway at Northern Boulevard was also closed to all lanes in both directions for a period of time before reopening.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
