Two dead, people trapped on a train in US flash flooding, as state emergency declared

News24

3 days ago

Two people died in New Jersey flash flooding.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency.
More than 100 people still missing in the Texas floods.
Two people were killed in New Jersey during flash flooding as severe storms lashed the New York City area on Monday night into Tuesday, submerging cars and flooding subway stations.
The intense rainfall caused widespread travel disruption across the region's airports, highways and railways.
More than 5cm of rain was recorded in a single hour in Manhattan's Central Park, the second most for a 60-minute period in history, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
Videos showed flooding in several subway stations on Monday evening, including a geyser of water spewing into a station on Manhattan's West Side.
Officials said the subway system was simply overwhelmed by the amount of rainfall in such a short amount of time.
The antiquated sewer system can handle around 4.44cm of rainfall per hour, Rohit Aggarwala, the city's environmental protection commissioner, told reporters on Tuesday, compared with a rate of more than 10cm an hour at the storm's peak.
I probably don't recall seeing that level of rain before.
Eric Adams
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and said two people died in Plainfield when their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.
The victims were found in a submerged car, Murphy told reporters.
Murphy said that some places got 15.25cm of rain in less than 2.5 hours and that it appeared some locations experienced flooding for the first time.
The governor blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
'That's the new reality,' he said.
In Westchester County, north of the city, authorities conducted multiple water rescues as cars were submerged and highways shut down due to flooding.
In nearby Rockland County, the suburb of Nanuet recorded more than 12.7cm of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
AFP reported that in New York City, emergency officials told people living in low-lying areas or ubiquitous basement apartments to head to higher ground.
Torrents of filthy rain water cascaded down Manhattan's major avenues around the time of the evening rush hour, and commuters sought cover under building canopies and bus stops.
Several major stations in the city's subway system were flooded, with passengers sharing images on social media showing waves of water gushing past ticket barriers and onto the electrified tracks.
In downtown Manhattan, dozens of passengers were reportedly trapped on a train as water poured into the 28th street station.
JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports temporarily suspended departures Monday night, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat running for mayor of New York, wrote on social media that the rapid flooding emphasised the need for climate-proofing the city.
'We must upgrade our infrastructure for this new climate reality,' he wrote.
The latest bad weather follows historic 4 July flooding that devastated parts of central Texas, killing at least 131 people, including three dozen children, and leaving more than 100 people still missing.
And in North Carolina, at least five people were killed when Tropical Storm Chantal slammed the coastal state last week, Governor Josh Stein said.