Rainfall records in New York: once every 500 years

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While the southern United States is still bruised by the passage of the first major hurricane of the 2021 season to hit American territory, it is now the turn of the northeast of the country to suffer the throes of Ida’s remains. .

An exceptional centuries-old situation

Last Wednesday, the US National Weather Service issued a flash flood alert for parts of New York. It was the first time that such an alert had been issued for the city’s metropolitan area.

And, it was not issued as a pure precaution, since in an hour, the Central Park weather station recorded nearly 80 mm of rain. Some experts suggest that the frequency of this type of extreme event is every 200 years.

Worse still: about 130 mm of rain fell in just three hours on this same sector, a phenomenon which would only occur every 500 years!

Deadly floods

This massive influx of water paralyzed the Big Apple. Several streets and arteries have become impassable and the city’s metro service has notably had to be suspended. Many vehicles and homes were also extensively damaged and even Newark Airport, located in the state of New Jersey, was flooded.

Some subway stations in NYC now double as water parks!pic.twitter.com/ZXOhP7Tjtz

Some subway stations in NYC now double as water parks!Ben Noll on Twitter: “Some subway stations in NYC now double as water parks!pic.twitter.com/ZXOhP7Tjtz / Twitter”

– Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) Ben Noll on Twitter: “Some subway stations in NYC now double as water parks!pic.twitter.com/ZXOhP7Tjtz / Twitter”

So far, authorities have recorded seven deaths linked to flash floods in New York. But the toll could increase over the next few hours. In neighboring Maryland and New Jersey, torrential rain also caused a lot of damage. At times between 40 to 80 mm fell in an hour. Also, early Wednesday evening, several tornadoes were reported. Gloucester County, New Jersey, has been particularly battered.

Ida’s sequel

As the northeastern United States attempts to recover from the remnants of the terrible hurricane, the Canadian Maritime provinces prepare for their arrival. Environment Canada has also issued warnings of winds up to 90 km / h in places, as well as the possibility of seeing between 50 to 85 mm of rain by Friday evening in these sectors.

Most of Quebec is not expected to be affected, except for cloudy overflow and low amounts of precipitation that will affect the southeast of the province. However, the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region could receive up to 100 mm of rain by Saturday.

SEE ALSO: “Huge and Extremely Dangerous” Tornado in New Jersey

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