New York City brought to halt by heavy rainfall, floods

Severe rainfall battered New York City on Friday, causing widespread disruptions as subways and airports experienced significant issues while roads turned to waterways.

The unprecedented downpour saw parts of Brooklyn experience almost 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain and nearly 8 inches at JFK Airport, breaking records set in 1960 by Hurricane Donna.

Social media images from New York City showed cars partially underwater and congested traffic, with several critical roads inundated by floods.

What is the latest?

A flash flood warning had been announced for the city. However, as of 8:00 p.m. local time (0200 UTC), the city's weather services reported that the "magnitude of the rain has come down," while some areas were still under moderate to heavy rain. 

The US National Weather Service (NWS) later lifted its so-called Flood Watch alert for most areas in the city, meaning residents were no longer urged to be prepared for flood-like conditions. 

"While additional rain is possible tonight, it should mainly be on the lighter side," said the NWS in New York City. 

States of emergency declared

Earlier, state of New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay indoors if possible.

The rains especially hit the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens hard with significant flooding.

Emergency services asked people living in basement apartments or flood-prone areas to prepare to move to higher ground. In September 2021, Hurricane Ida caused widespread flooding , killing 13 and trapping several people in basement apartments.

Although no deaths have been reported from this storm, the city remains on high alert.

Residents unhappy

Some residents said they got no warning about the flooding from officials.

"We are really, really suffering." Yasiel Ogando, a 38-year-old hospital worker, said. "Broken promises. Nothing gets done. It's really bad. It's terrible."  

Residents claim that neighborhood meetings with city officials aimed to make their area less prone to flooding have borne no results.

The city recently implemented floodgates, set to close automatically if water clogs the streets. The gates were reportedly still down and blocking traffic on many roads.

What caused the heavy rainfall?

The downpour is attributed to remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia. The storm brought heavy downpours and unrelenting winds last weekend to New York City and caused widespread power outages in nearby areas.

Climate experts assert that climate change has led to more extreme weather patterns globally. As the Earth warms, the resulting hotter atmosphere retains more moisture, leading to increased frequencies of very heavy rainfall, according to their findings.

"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," Rohit Aggarwala Overall, the city's Environmental Protection Commissioner, said.

fb, ss/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)