A police officer from the NYPD Highway Patrol looks to motorists drive through a flooded street after heavy rains as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bring flooding across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, at the FDR Drive in Manhattan near the Williamsburg Bridge, in New York City, U.S., September 29, 2023.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York City metro area Friday, leaving streets and highways flooded, service on multiple subway lines suspended or heavily impacted, and flights delayed or canceled.
More than five inches of rain fell in Central Park, starting overnight and stretching through Friday afternoon. The storms are set to last for hours still, with rain expected to keep falling well into the night and into Saturday. For some parts of the city, it was the wettest day on record; in Central Park, it was the most rainfall seen since the remnants of Ida swept through two years ago.
More than six inches of rain had fallen in parts of Brooklyn by the afternoon, with some spots seeing more than 2.5 inches in a single hour, according to weather and city officials. The 7.88 inches of rain at JFK Airport surpassed a record set dating back to 1948, the National Weather Service said.
Friday’s rain also officially made it the rainiest September on record, according to the NWS, with more than 12 inches for the month — shattering the previous record of 9.65 inches in 1975.
A flood watch is in effect through 6 a.m. Saturday for the entire tri-state, with rainfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour expected at times. Flash flood warnings were issued for much of NYC and surrounding counties in New Jersey, the Hudson Valley and into Connecticut into the evening; many of those warnings are likely to be extended further.
By midday, although there was a break in the downpour, Mayor Eric Adams urged people to stay put if possible.
A woman walks through flood waters with her child during a heavy rain storm on September 29, 2023, in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images
“It is not over, and I don’t want those gaps in heavy rain to give the appearance that it is over,” he said at a news briefing. He and Hochul, both Democrats, declared states of emergency.
No storm-related deaths or critical injuries had been reported by the afternoon, city officials said. But residents struggled to get around the waterlogged metropolis.
Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays. The Metro-North commuter railroad was suspended, the Long Island Rail Road was snarled, and even bus service was severely disrupted, according to transit officials.
“There is only extremely limited subway service available because of heavy flooding. Service is suspended at many stations,” the MTA’s subway account posted on X, formerly Twitter.
People walk under umbrellas amid heavy rain on September 29, 2023 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn borough New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Traffic hit a standstill, with water above cars’ tires on a stretch of the FDR Drive, which was shut down at one part of the day. Across the city and beyond, drivers abandoned their cars after getting stuck in floodwaters that quickly became too deep to get through.
On a street in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, workers were up to their knees in water as they tried to unclog a storm drain while cardboard and other debris floated by. The city said that it checked and cleared key drains, especially near subway stations, ahead of the storm. But that was little comfort to Osman Gutierrez, who was trying to pry soaked bags of trash and scraps of food from a drain near the synagogue where he works.
“The city has to do more to clean the streets,” he said. “It’s filthy.”
As the rain briefly slowed at some point in the afternoon, residents emerged from their homes to survey the damage and begin draining the water that had reached the top of many basement doors. Some people arranged milk crates and wooden boards to cross the flooded sidewalks, with water close to waist-deep in the middle of some streets.
A Brooklyn school was evacuated because its boiler was smoking, possibly because water had gotten into it, Schools Chancellor David Banks said at the news briefing. Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said that more than 2.5 inches of rain fell in a single hour at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, overwhelming the surrounding drainage systems.
Heavy rain forecasted over the Northeast of U.S. on Sept. 29th, 2023.
NOAA
Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays, and the Metro-North commuter railroad was suspended.
Flights into LaGuardia were briefly halted Friday morning, and then delayed, because of water in the airport’s refueling area. Flooding also forced the closure of one of the airport’s three terminals.
Hoboken, New Jersey, and other cities and towns around New York City also experienced flooding. Hoboken declared a state of emergency, as did other cities in the area. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called state offices to close at 3 p.m., except for essential personnel.
The deluge came less than three months after a storm caused deadly floods in New York’s Hudson Valley and left Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, submerged. A little over two years ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, most of whom were in flooded basement apartments.
A vehicle sits submerged after it got stuck in high water on the Prospect Expressway during heavy rain and flooding on September 29, 2023 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Friday’s flooding wasn’t nearly as bad as that event two years ago, but was enough to flood basement apartments — city officials said they received reports that six basement apartments had flooded Friday, but all the occupants got out safely. Hochul pleaded with residents to evacuate their homes if the water starts to rise.
“People need to take this extremely seriously,” the governor said.
“We anticipate, we warn, we prepare. But then when it hits and you have 5 inches in the last 12 hours — 3 in the last hour this morning — that’s a scale that we’re not accustomed to dealing with,” Hochul said in a television interview. But she added that New Yorkers “have to get used to this” because of climate change.
And more downpours were expected.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection workers attempt to clear blocked drains after heavy rains as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bring flooding across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, at the FDR Drive in Manhattan near the Williamsburg bridge, in New York City, U.S., September 29, 2023.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
NYC issues travel advisory for Friday and Saturday
The New York City Emergency Management Department issued a travel advisory for all day Friday and for Saturday morning.
“All New Yorkers need to exercise caution,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol in a statement. “If you must travel, consider using public transportation and allow for extra travel time, and if you must drive, do not enter flooded roadways. If you live in a basement apartment, especially in a flood prone area, be prepared to move to higher ground.”
The city enacted a flash flood plan and will have crews inspecting catch basins and roads in areas prone to flooding.
The Mets vs. Phillies game at Citi Field on Friday was postponed and will be played as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.
The rain also led to the postponement of Friday night’s preseason game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders on Long Island. It will be played Saturday night instead.
So how long will the rain and nasty conditions stick around? Luckily it won’t be too much longer, though they will linger into Saturday morning. The showers stop around then and the rest of the weekend looks pleasant — particularly Sunday, which is expected to feature sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70s.
After that, warmer and rain-free weather will dominate the week. Temperatures stay in the mid 70s, although Tuesday could see highs around 80s degrees — a blast of summer-like feels during the first week of October.
A school bus drives at the FDR Drive in Manhattan near the Williamsburg bridge after heavy rains as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bring flooding across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, in New York City, U.S., September 29, 2023.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters