Several metro stations were flooded and major arteries cut Thursday in New York, where news floods threatened Friday with the expected arrival of Storm Elsa.
Between 5 and 10 cm of water fell during a series of thunderstorms over New York and surrounding area Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. “Causing considerable flash flooding in some places”.
Another video, this one of a stunt in the New York subway after torrential rains pic.twitter.com/Or67r4UbOJ
– Antoine Llorca (@antoinellorca) July 8, 2021
Water up to the waist
Subway riders posted video footage of some particularly impressive flooded stations at the 157th Street station north of Manhattan on Twitter.
We see people with waist-deep water, somehow crossing a blackish pool to reach the docks.
Meanwhile, in New York… pic.twitter.com/47Ib9apKbY
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 8, 2021
“Lines 1 and A have really taken a hit, with a lot of flooding in the stations”, recognized Thursday evening Sarah Feinberg, patron of the MTA, New York public transport authority, during a press briefing.
Motorists stuck by the waters
Some major roads, especially in the Bronx, have been temporarily closed, disrupting traffic when leaving the office. New York police tweeted footage of her rescuing motorists stranded by the waters.
#HappeningNow Traffic Advisory, please avoid the Major Deegan Expressway in the v/o 179th Street due to severe flooding. #NYPD SRG is conducting rescue operations utilizing a barrier truck to remove stranded motorists from their vehicles. pic.twitter.com/wZnil61zqV
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) July 8, 2021
The NWS warned of possible new flooding by Friday morning, with the expected arrival in the northeast of heavy rains brought by storm Elsa, which came from Florida.
Increasingly frequent flooding due to climate change
Despite work undertaken to fortify the city against the floods since Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 – which killed 44 people and paralyzed the American economic capital for days – New York, a city surrounded by water, remains very vulnerable to flooding, the frequency of which must increase with climate change.
Several officials, including Eric Adams, president of Brooklyn and big favorite for the November municipal election since winning the Democratic primary this week, called Thursday night for urgent investments to fortify infrastructure.
“Extreme weather episodes like this will not go away”, warned one of his opponents in the primary, Kathryn Garcia, who oversaw the water pumping after Sandy. “We must invest in strategies to protect the city”.
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