New York, The Indonesia Post – New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday (29/9) declared a state of emergency across New York City, Long Island and the surrounding area after heavy rainstorms caused flooding on subway lines and streets and flight delays.
Hurricane Ophelia soaked New York City with heavy rain Friday morning, causing flash flooding in parts of the city.
Flood monitoring efforts were carried out until Saturday (30/9) at 06.00 local time in three states, namely New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with rainfall levels several times estimated at one to two inches per hour.
The strong storm closed most of the subway system of the city nicknamed the Big Apple. The storm flooded several roads and highways, and cut off access to at least one terminal at LaGuardia Airport.
A number of subway lines were suspended Friday morning and other lines suspended service at stations affected by flooding, especially in Brooklyn.
“Available subway service is very limited due to severe flooding. Service has been suspended at many stations,” according to a post by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) subway account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Hochul’s announcement followed a similar order from New York City Mayor Eric Adams asking residents to seek shelter during the worst of the storm.
“I want to say to all New York City residents, this is the time for increased vigilance and extreme caution. If you are at home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now.” Adams said.
Rainfall in parts of New York City reached five inches as of Friday at 11:00 local time. In Central Park, the rainfall was the most since Hurricane Ida hit two years ago.
Video footage showed cars stuck on flooded roads in the Red Hook and Brooklyn areas. Several people were seen trying to clean the water channel in the midst of the flood.
The baseball game scheduled for Friday night between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets had to be postponed due to inclement weather.
Adams called the weather “dangerous,” and said the storm was not over.
“We could possibly get up to eight inches of rain before the day is over,” he said. (mhn/bbs)
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