NEW YORK – One of New York City’s wettest days in decades left the nation’s largest city stunned and swamped as Tropical Storm Ophelia’s remnants pushed onshore Friday.
The already heavily saturated region received several inches of rain within hours across all five boroughs of the city, knocking out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranding drivers on highways, flooding basements and even shutting a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours.
New York City, Long Island, and Hudson Valley, had widespread rainfall between 4 and 6 inches, with some areas experiencing well over 7 inches of rain.
Just over 8 inches of rain had fallen at JFK Airport by the end of the night. The National Weather Service said Friday’s weather broke the airport’s all-time daily rainfall record, surpassing Hurricane Irene’s daily record from Aug. 14, 2011 by a quarter of an inch. The community of Valley Stream on Long Island reported receiving the highest rainfall total of 9.10 inches within 24 hours.
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Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared states of emergencies in their respective states as floodwaters wreaked havoc. Aside from the record flooding in the New York City area, several inches of rain also fell in New Jersey ranging from Manasquan to Newark. But no injuries or missing people were reported from the weather event.
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As streets turned into rivers, multiple water rescues occurred as drivers became stranded in stalled vehicles now surrounded by murky floodwaters.
Fairfield, New Jersey police illustrated one such example of the perils of driving Friday by showing one of their officers rescuing a driver who became stranded in feet of floodwaters.
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Others who braved the roads found themselves in traffic gridlock as many highways and parkways were closed because of flooding.
In Brooklyn, numerous vehicles were stuck with water reaching up to their windows on the Prospect Expressway. Floodwaters also caused closures along various roadways, such as the Hutchison River Parkway, Bronx Run Parkway, Major Deegan Expressway, Grand Central Parkway and a section of the FDR Drive, to name a few.
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But it wasn’t just streets covered in water. Buildings and subways strained under the records rains, with even one stairway in Washington Heights turning into an impromptu waterfall.
Floodwaters were also seen cascading down stairs in a Brooklyn subway station, illustrating the massive system-wide disruptions to rail and bus services.
Footage filmed by Wynter Gray shows the water rushing down the stairs in the Grand Army Plaza subway station on Friday. Landslides with mud were also reported by emergency management in the hillier terrain of Lower Westchester.
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The flooding caused inconveniences for commuters who were driving or taking trains, as well as those traveling through LaGuardia Airport.
The water level rose high enough to flood the parking lots and ramps, causing Terminal A to close. Flights to and from the area airports were still running, but there were intermittent ground delays due to heavy rain in the region.
Showers may continue on Saturday morning, but the rain will move out of the Northeast by the afternoon, ushering in several dry days next week and a chance to wring out.