The recent heavy rainfall brought chaos to travelers across the tri-state area on Sunday night. With between 3 to 5 inches of rain dousing the region, drivers in Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens faced delays as they navigated flooded roadways and long lines at airports. The city’s emergency services were put into action as shocking footage emerged showing cars struggling against rising waters in various locations, including the 86th Street Traverse in Central Park which was impassable due to floodwaters.
Social media played a crucial role in documenting the severity of the situation, with images and videos shared on Twitter and other platforms showing cars attempting to navigate rapidly rising waters along parts of the Garden State Parkway. In some cases, vehicles were completely swept away by the torrential downpour, such as in Oxford, Connecticut where a WTNH reporter captured footage of stranded and submerged cars.
The impact on transportation was significant, with both LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport experiencing flight disruptions due to poor weather conditions. Travelers were left standing in long lines at these airports, while some flights were entirely canceled. Amtrak service between New York and Philadelphia was also temporarily halted because of flooding in Newark.
The ferocious storm even affected local wildlife; a man with a prosthetic leg and his dog had to be rescued from floodwaters in Southbury by a good Samaritan, as captured in a video tweeted by Fox 61 meteorologist Ryan Breton.
Scott Homan, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, reported that the rain came down so hard at one point on Sunday evening that over an inch of water was dumped in Central Park alone. Other parts of the tri-state area faced as much as 5 inches of rain. The heavy precipitation is expected to ease off late Sunday night into early Monday before more thunderstorms are predicted to hit New York City later in the day.
In response to the hazardous conditions, swimming was prohibited at all Brooklyn beaches, Rockaway beaches and Riis Beach due to dangerous rip currents. The combination of heavy rainfall, flooded roads, and canceled flights made for a difficult travel experience on Sunday night, leaving many weary fliers scrambling to figure out their next move while waiting in airport terminals across the region.
