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New York declared a state of emergency in the early hours of Thursday after the northeastern region of the United States recorded heavy rains and winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which caused significant flooding.
In New York City, virtually all subway lines were suspended as flooding from veritable floodwaters and cascades of water poured down both station stairways and tunnel ceilings, once again highlighting the significant deterioration of infrastructure.
“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” warned New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on social media.
Both de Blasio and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul noted that far more rain fell in just a few hours than expected, which has left the region in a “dire situation.”
“We can take all the precautions in advance, and we did deploy our assets to be on the ground in anticipation, but mother nature will do whatever she wants, and she is really angry tonight,” Hochul told CNN.
De Blasio went so far as to ban road traffic in New York until 05.00 local time (09.00 GMT) after the National Weather Service in New York reported receiving “many reports of rescues and motorists trapped by water.”
The governor of the neighboring state of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, also declared a state of emergency, while Newark International Airport canceled all flights and the region’s rail service suspended almost all of its services.
