Subways and airports in US’ financial capital New York were paralyzed due to heavy rains on Friday, with more rains expected on Saturday. LaGuardia airport closed one of its terminals. Videos shared on social media showed passengers walking in shin-deep water in certain parts of the airport as well as the city.
Images shared by news agencies showed cars partially submerged in certain areas of the city and traffic snarls in busy roads and avenues. The floods also impacted shopkeepers who were struggling to protect their products from the floods and were busy pushing the water back into the streets.
Here All You Need to Know About New York City Floods:
- Mayor Eric Adams urged people to stay inside their homes. “If you are home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now, some of our subways are flooded and it’s extremely difficult to move around the city,” Adams said.
- Several lines of New York City’s sprawling subway system were also hit. Several lines were closed in Brooklyn.
- NYC Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala Overall blamed the floods on global warming and said climate change advanced faster than anticipated. “This changing weather pattern is the result of climate change. And the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond,” he said.
- New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared an official state of emergency.
- The city of 8.5 million residents as well the population living in Long Island and Hudson river valley and other suburbs are now living under a state of emergency.
- The US National Weather Service warned of floods and said that the city is receiving as much as 20 centimetres of rain, warning that it could lead to flash flooding in urban and poor drainage areas.
- The heavy rains were caused due to a low pressure system along the mid-Atlantic coast. Low-pressure systems pull in moist air from the ocean.
- Residents were reminded of the havoc caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021 which led to extensive flooding and led to 13 deaths.
- Brooklyn and Queens boroughs were hit with some of the worst flooding and residents were told to remain alert.
- The subway system was also adversely affected as water poured down the steps and through the ceilings of some stations. The New York City subway system is one of the world’s largest systems with 420 stations and more than 30 lines.