Flash Flooding Disrupts Commutes and Flights in Northeast

It was a deadly day of weather across portions of the Northeast on Thursday as one person died after getting trapped inside a flooded basement in New York City. Read on for the details of this late October storm.

Flash Flooding Hits New York City and Beyond

Approximately 15 million Americans spent Thursday dodging storms when severe weather enveloped the Northeast and beyond. Storms fired up across a number of major metro areas in the region, including New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The line of storms was supported by a powerful area of low pressure that had been anchored over the East Coast in recent days.

According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), at least one person died when a basement was flooded in Brooklyn. A New York Fire Department (FDNY) rescue diver had to enter the flooded basement to retrieve the victim. The person was taken to Kings County by Emergency Service and pronounced dead at the hospital.

New York City was hit particularly hard by the heavy rain, flooding streets and trapping people in their vehicles. Both sections of the JFK Expressway and the George Washington Bridge had to close as the roadways became overwhelmed with water.

NYPD confirmed that they had to rescue an individual from a flooded vehicle on 9th and Smith Street in Brooklyn. The National Weather Service (NWS) said that water was coming to the middle of vehicles in the communities of Midland and Riverdale.

The rain came fast and furious at times. The official rain gauges at LaGuardia Airport in Queens reported an eye-popping quarter of an inch of rain in just seven minutes. Over an inch of rain was recorded in 50 minutes at this airport. Several rain gauges throughout the city recorded rainfall amounts between 1 and 1.5 inches over a period of just one hour during the height of the storm. Total rainfall amounts are coming in at up to 2.25 inches.

New York City was put under a Flash Flood Warning through the early evening hours, wreaking havoc on the evening commute. All three major airports in the metro area reported significant delays. Travelers flying in and out of JFK International, LaGuardia, and Newark-Liberty were faced with delays of 3 to 4 hours.

Despite the rain easing as the evening progressed, a level 1 out of 4 flash flood threat remained in place for a large swath of the Northeast and southern New England, stretching from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to the northeast into Providence, Rhode Island.

In addition to the heavy rains, winds also began to whip up heading into the evening and overnight hours. Coastal regions of New Jersey and Delaware were put under wind advisories with gusts potentially eclipsing 50 mph.

Coastal flooding is also a concern for a long section of the Atlantic Seaboard. A Coastal Flood Warning is in effect for North Carolina's Outer Banks and to the north into parts of the mid-Atlantic. These warnings will remain in place through Friday. The flooding concerns will translate to a higher risk of beach erosion.

The rough surf conditions triggered another round of home collapses in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Five homes collapsed into the ocean on Tuesday in this beach community. This has been a problem for the barrier islands in recent weeks, with over a dozen homes lost to the fury of the sea.