A storm of historic proportions turned the streets of New York into rivers, flooded buses and brought the subway to a complete standstill. A record was measured at Central Park.
New York – The tail of the hurricane “Ida” brought the metropolis of New York the heaviest rain in history and caused severe flooding. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency.
Streets and apartments were sometimes about three feet under water late on Wednesday evening, and subway traffic came to a complete standstill. At first it was unclear whether there were injuries or fatalities.
“Tonight we are experiencing a historic weather event with record rain all over the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our streets,” wrote de Blasio on Thursday night on Twitter. People should seek shelter in houses and not go out into the streets to enable rescue workers to do their work.
Within just an hour, around 80 millimeters of rain fell in Central Park in Manhattan, according to the National Weather Service. The storm pulverized the previous record that tropical storm “Henri” had set just over a week ago with 49 millimeters for 60 minutes. Overall, the summer of 2021 in New York is not only very hot and sunny, but also the rainiest in New York history.
Warnings of even more extreme weather
“Stay away from the subway. Stay away from the streets. Don’t go into these severe floods, ”continued de Blasio. Around 5300 households are without electricity. On Wednesday evening, the authorities in New York and the surrounding area warned of severe storms, life-threatening floods and even tornadoes. A short time later, so much rain fell over the city that streets turned into rivers. Some videos circulating on the internet showed cars drifting in the water.
Queens Boulevard in Maspeth/Corona is a literal river at the moment. Bus fully flooded driving through, multiple cars stuck in the water. Absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/LuSL9uWCEl
— Joe English (@JoeEEnglish) September 2, 2021
Passengers were stuck in paralyzed subway trains. In a subway station, water penetrated with the force of a spring tide, as pictures showed. The authenticity of a video of a man floating on the water on an air mattress could not initially be confirmed. Newark Airport temporarily stopped its air traffic, and John F. Kennedy Airport reported delays.
A video by Unicef spokesman Joe English showed Queens Boulevard in the district of the same name, which was so flooded that passengers had to get on the seats in a public bus: “Queens Boulevard in Maspeth / Corona is literally a river at the moment. Bus flooded with water, several cars got stuck in the water. Absolutely crazy, ”wrote English on Twitter.
The extreme weather also hit the US Open, which is currently taking place, and the German tennis player Angelique Kerber, whose game has been postponed. In the Louis Armstrong Stadium, where Kerber was to play her second round match against Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine on Wednesday evening, it rained so heavily from the side, despite the roof, that the game had to be suspended indefinitely.
The area in Flushing Meadows was also partially flooded, so that thousands of visitors either had to seek shelter or wade through the water. dpa
