We Need to Talk About These Epic Floods in New York City

Remnants from Tropical Storm Ophelia might have caused at least seven inches of rain to be dumped on New York City. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency as scores of people became stranded in the floods. The city became raging waters, with subways turning into swimming pools. The water levels rose so much that sea lions at the Central Park Zoo temporarily escaped (via AccuWeather):

A coastal storm has developed off the Northeast coast, unleashing torrents of rain around the greater New York City area. Several more inches of rain will unload across the area, causing. potentially life-threatening flooding situation into the weekend, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.
“It appears that the rainfall from this storm could be New York City’s heaviest since Hurricane Ida in 2021,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said. That tropical rainstorm brought major flooding and more than 7 inches of rain to Manhattan on the first day of September that year.
As of mid-afternoon on Friday, the current storm has far surpassed rainfall from Ida at JFK International Airport with 8.48 inches falling. The storm total from Ida at the airport was under 3 inches.
AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell said that traffic was a mess in Queens and across New York City on Friday morning amid the excessive rainfall. He noted that ponding of water was occurring on roadways and around JFK.

The Bronx River Parkway is flooded and people are stuck in their cars right now.

Where were all the alerts last night about the life-threatening flash floods? Why weren’t schools closed?

NYC must improve its climate-crisis planning and communications. Our lives are at stake. pic.twitter.com/SIw5USrosD
— Jonathan Soto (@Soto4NY) September 29, 2023

🚨#BREAKING: State of Emergency has been declared for New York City along with a Shelter-in-Place due from Widespread Flooding

📌#Manhattan | #Newyork

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island, and the… pic.twitter.com/JyQX98NVP6
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 29, 2023

I don't think this is supposed to happen in NYC.... 😱🌊#ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/ip60w4dTym
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) September 29, 2023

Boro Park, Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/0r3GcN3tlM
— NYScanner (@nyscanner) September 29, 2023

On Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/7lYPL5ddF6
— NYScanner (@nyscanner) September 29, 2023

Major flooding in Brooklyn today. Trains shut down and the only way out of the station is through this. pic.twitter.com/yQPLOyc6dX
— Seth Chinnis (@sethchinnis) September 29, 2023

UNDER WATER: Brooklyn Queens Expressway pic.twitter.com/zXUDUoVXK5
— NYScanner (@nyscanner) September 29, 2023

The new Brooklyn waterfall is much much bigger now!!! pic.twitter.com/3RTd00VaBq
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) September 29, 2023

Wild videos show flooded LaGuardia Airport terminal, travelers trying to flee waters https://t.co/vkmtFSUD2H pic.twitter.com/tpMle62mDZ
— New York Post (@nypost) September 29, 2023

The situation is getting worse in Brooklyn as extreme flooding engulfs the streets. pic.twitter.com/17zvKHUJvg
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) September 29, 2023

The downpour of rain is turning NYC into a raging river. 🌊 https://t.co/o8Ni7gjBGF pic.twitter.com/wkG1QlZMwW
— New York Post (@nypost) September 29, 2023

The NYC area is facing major flooding as heavy rain slams New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Parts of Brooklyn were submerged by 1 to 2 inches per hour of rain by Friday morning. pic.twitter.com/LH0BIEuNDH
— ABC News (@ABC) September 29, 2023

🚨#BREAKING: Sea lions have escaped the Central Park zoo due severe flooding ⁰
📌#Manhattan | #NewYork

Due to the extreme flooding that is occurring across New York City, the water level in the Sea Lion area rose significantly. As a result, the Sea Lions were able to swim over… pic.twitter.com/XCZ5FFZK5B
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 29, 2023

It was something out of the film The Day After Tomorrow, which is fitting because the global warming crowd is already chirping that their favorite advocacy issue caused this storm that no one cares about:

Just last week, over 75,000 people marched in the streets of New York to demand climate action. Those streets are now flooded. @GovKathyHochul declared a state of emergency as over 8.5 million people were placed under flash flood warnings.
⁰
It costs more to do nothing. pic.twitter.com/6oUZ5ggs1y
— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) September 29, 2023

The weather caused weather delays for the New York Mets and the Rangers-Islanders game.