Life in New York City was partially paralyzed after heavy rains left the U.S. monetary capital below water on Friday.
LaGuardia airport closed down one in every of its terminals, with social media pictures displaying passengers strolling by way of water effectively above the tops of their footwear.
New York Mayor Eric Adams urged folks to not enterprise out as a result of the streets had been blocked and subway stations flooded.
“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,” he mentioned.
Images from round New York confirmed automobiles half-submerged and site visitors snarled, with some main roads fully blocked.
Shopkeepers in flooded shops had been attempting to guard merchandise and push the water again into the streets.
The huge New York subway system was additionally hit by the flooding, with a number of traces closed in Brooklyn.
Cab driver Ahmed Abdou, 50, initially from Egypt, blasted officers for struggling to deal with what he mentioned was an everyday phenomenon.
“The subway in the city is terrible,” he mentioned.
“All the storms, they come every year at the same time. We should anticipate it better,” he mentioned.
But Rohit Aggarwala Overall, the town’s Environmental Protection Commissioner, mentioned international warming had superior quicker than the town may act to shore up its protections.
“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,” Overall mentioned.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared an official state of emergency for the town of 8.5 million and its densely-populated suburbs, together with Long Island to the east and the Hudson River valley to the north.
The National Weather Service warned of flooding by way of late Friday with as a lot as two inches (5.1 centimeters) of rain falling per hour.
It mentioned complete accumulation on Friday may hit seven inches (18 centimeters).
“Excessive runoff will likely result in scattered to numerous instances of flash flooding in urban and poor drainage areas, as well as along quick responding small rivers and streams,” it mentioned.
The rain got here from a low-pressure system alongside the mid-Atlantic coast, which pulls in moist air from the ocean.
In September 2021 Hurricane Ida introduced intensive flooding to the area, particularly Brooklyn and Queens, leaving 13 folks useless, lots of them trapped in basement residences.
Both boroughs had been hit with a few of the worst flooding Friday, and residents had been warned to take particular care.
“If you live in these boroughs or in a basement apartment or flood-prone area, please make sure you have plans and are prepared to move to higher ground,” urged New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.
In the subway — one of many world’s largest programs with 420 stations and greater than 30 traces – water poured down the steps and thru the ceilings of some stations.
The subway is important to the lives of hundreds of thousands of metropolis residents, however a variety of traces, together with in Brooklyn, had been shut down due to the flooding.
Hochul mentioned it was essential to get the subway again up and working as a result of many kids depend on it to get to and from faculty.
Source: www.dailysabah.com