Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the remnants of Hurricane Ida arrived in New York City, bringing torrential rains and massive flooding.
The storm took the lives of multiple people in Queens and Brooklyn, and caused massive delays and suspensions throughout the city’s transit system.
Right before midnight, Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency. “Stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel,” she urged with a tweet.
Mayor Bill de Blasio quickly followed suit, declaring a state of emergency within the city. “We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” the mayor tweeted.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency Wednesday night, marking only the second time that the organization has issued such a warning in the city.
At around 10 p.m. police responded to a 911 call for flooding in the corner building of 64th Street and Laurel Hill Boulevard in Woodside. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a 50-year-old man, 48-year-old woman and a two-year-old boy all unconscious in a basement apartment. The three were all pronounced dead at the scene.
In Forest Hills, officers responded to a 911 call and found a 48-year-old woman unconscious in her apartment complex. She was rushed to a hospital where she later died.
Closer to midnight, officers responded to reports of a flooded basement apartment on 183rd Street near 90th Avenue in Jamaica. The cops found a 43-year-old woman and 22-year-old man unresponsive at the scene. The man was declared dead and the woman passed away later at a hospital.
Flooding on 84th Street in Jackson Heights claimed the life of an elderly 86-year-old woman.
In Brooklyn, a 66-year-old man was found unconscious in a basement apartment at the corner of Ridgewood and Autumn avenues in Cypress Hills. He was later pronounced dead.
The flooding caused widespread suspensions and delays throughout the subway system. On Thursday morning, service was entirely suspended along the 3, C, E, Z, and W lines. All other trains were listed as either partially suspended or delayed.
Video on the popular Instagram account Subway Creatures showed entire stations partially submerged in water, including the 45th Street station of the R Line along 4th Avenue in Sunset Park and the Dekalb Avenue stop in Downtown Brooklyn.
Pouring rain also pounded through gaps in the roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing, disrupting the second-round of play in the U.S. Open. Heavy winds blew concession stands throughout the venue as fans attempted to return to their cars and safely leave.