Heavy rain pummeled New York City and its suburbs on Monday night, setting off flash flooding across much of the area and inundating parts of the subway system, bringing train traffic on some lines to a standstill.
Service on the 1, 2 and 3 subway lines was suspended in Manhattan, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said just after 9 p.m., while the agency addressed “flooding in multiple stations.” Images and video circulating online showed flooding inside the 1 train station at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Outside the city, videos on social media showed heavy flooding in New Providence, N.J., in Union County, about 25 miles west of New York City. Kelly Martins, a county spokeswoman, said that there was flooding across much of the county and that water rescue equipment had been deployed, though no fatalities had been reported.
The mayor of Metuchen, N.J, southwest of Manhattan in Middlesex County, said that much of borough was “experiencing significant flooding,” forcing the closure of several roadways. The police were assisting stranded motorists and taking them to the borough’s high school, he said.
The New York State Police said the Taconic State Parkway had flooded, forcing the authorities to close the roadway in both directions in Mount Pleasant. The Sprain Brook Parkway was also closed in both directions in Mount Pleasant because of flooding.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey declared a state of emergency for the state “given flash flooding and high levels of rainfall in parts of the state.”
In Pennsylvania, emergency workers in Mount Joy, in Lancaster County, made 16 water rescues and responded to more than 30 requests for assistance from people with flooded basements, said Philip Colvin, coordinator for the borough’s emergency management’s team. More than seven inches of rain fell across the area less than five hours, Mr. Colvin said, overwhelming storm drains and flooding some homes, particularly on the west side of town.
The Lancaster County Department of Public Safety received about 200 calls related to flooding during the storm, said Michael Fitzpatrick, a county spokesman.
Key Things to Know
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Intense rain fell in several places, including New York City, Northern New Jersey Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
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” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Flash flood watches were in effect from North Carolina to New York for much of the day. A watch means conditions are favorable for severe weather, and a warning is issued once an event is occurring, or about to.
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By 6 p.m., the National Weather Service had issued several flash-flood warnings for areas that included Washington, southeastern Pennsylvania and New York City.
The Forecast
On Tuesday, the system is expected to move south, shifting the highest risk of flooding into more of the Mid-Atlantic, from portions of northwestern North Carolina to southern New Jersey. Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and parts of Delaware are under a Level 2 out of 4 risk for flash flooding.
While the overall risk may be lower in some areas on Tuesday, Mr. Wegman said, summer thunderstorms are notoriously difficult to predict.
“It’s very possible some areas will have a worse day on Tuesday than Monday,” he said. “The weather models do like to change a lot in the 24 hours leading up to an event.”
Ed Shanahan contributed reporting.
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
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