Last Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City amid heavy rainfall and a series of flash floods.
According to statistics from CNN weather, between 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across the city by Friday afternoon, resulting in it being the second-wettest September in the history of New York City, as reported by the National Weather Service.
The storm prompted a series of mobile alerts across the city, as issued by the National Weather Service. The first alert sounded at 9:30am local time, warning of a “considerable” flash-flood warning, a term which is utilised for severe, and sudden threats, (Source: New York Times, 2023).
Subway lines were forced to temporarily shut down as water seeped to underground stations, whilst LaGuardia Airport closed one of its terminals before reopening later on Friday; sending the city into a spiralling scene of chaos. Images of residents wading through knee-deep waters have emerged on social media, whilst New York City firefighters rescued 15 people from cars trapped within fast-flowing waters, as reported by NBC News. Residents of the city were advised to stay at home; leaving millions of people confined to the likes of schools, vehicles, public transport stations and offices. On Friday alone, 23 million people across the states of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey were under flood watches (Source, NBC News, 2023), being indicative of the sheer severity of this storm, and the potential threat it posed to human life.
However, no fatalities or critical injuries have been reported.
Hochul’s statement written on X read: “I am declaring a state of emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley due to the extreme rainfall we’re seeing throughout the region”. Shortly after Hochul’s statement was released on Friday morning, the Governor of New Jersey also issued a state of emergency for his state.
The intensity of this storm is indicative of the need for New York City to prepare for the potential threats associated with the climate crisis, such as rising sea levels. This concern was voiced by Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, who declared: “the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond”, as reported by the New York Times. Since the storm, there is a desperate call to improve the city’s infrastructure in order to become resilient against extreme weather events such as these, which are only expected to become more frequent. This is evidenced by a series of apartment blocks in Queens, which have proven to lack adequate means of escape during a flood (Source: New York Times, 2023), generating serious concerns for the recurrence of an event such as this.
During a press conference held in the city on the following Saturday, Hochul claimed the event to be “historic, in some areas was recordshattering” being “the most rain ever recorded in a single day in a place like JFK ever” (Source: The Independent, 2023). Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City, has faced a series of backlash amid the time it took him to respond to, and communicate about the severity of the storm.