This is a flood disaster that New Yorkers cannot ignore.
Biblical downpours lashed the Big Apple early Friday morning, swamping buses, flooding schools and turning streets into Venetian canals as NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued a state of emergency due to potential flash flooding.
“This is the time to increase vigilance and extreme vigilance,” Hizzoner said during a press conference.
“We could see as much as 8 inches of rain before the end of the day. This dangerous weather is not over yet, and I don’t want the gap in the heavy rain to give an appearance [it is] finished.”
Recent footage shows cars plowing through knee-deep water in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, with a whirlpool forming in the middle of the road like something out of a disaster movie.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest news on the heavy rains that are flooding NYC
In light of the Big Apple’s Atlantis-ification, experts have issued advice on how to navigate the city during a flood.
Shelter in place
A driver drives through flooded roads after heavy rains as remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia brought flooding across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including in New York City, on Friday, Sept. 29. Reuters
Regulation No. 1: Summon your dormant COVID-19 pandemic survival skills — and stay home.
According to flood warnings hitting people’s phones across the city, New Yorkers should not “attempt to travel unless you are fleeing a flooded area or under an evacuation order.”
That means refraining from driving on flooded roads — a warning that many people unfortunately ignore, as photos of submerged cars show.
“If you’re in a submerged vehicle, almost every vehicle made today has power windows, so when the vehicle is submerged — it will short out the electrical system, so the windows won’t be able to open,” Robert Sinclair, senior manager of public affairs for AAA Northeast, told Gothamist. “You have heavy water pressure on the door. So, there is no good way to deal with a submerged vehicle and try to escape from it.”
He added that just “12 inches of moving water” is powerful enough to pick up a vehicle – even an SUV or pickup truck – and carry it away.
Pedestrians should also always be careful, as just 6 inches of moving water “can make you fall,” the National Weather Service warns. “If you have to walk in water, walk where the water doesn’t move. Use a stick to check the firmness of the ground in front of you.”
Do not take the subway
Police officers help motorists stuck in flooded roads on the FDR Drive in Manhattan.REUTERS
Just like using an elevator using fire, taking underground transportation during a flood is not recommended.
The storm drenched parts of the city’s subway system, turning the stairs at the Grand Army Plaza station on the 2/3 line in Brooklyn into a cascading waterfall, as seen in a dramatic cellphone video by the crowd.
Due to flooding, subway lines across the city are offering very limited service with specific closures and delays updated regularly on New York City Transit X account.
“There is only very limited subway service due to heavy flooding,” they wrote Friday morning. “Services are suspended at many stations. Please stay home if you do not need to travel.
It’s not just the subway system that’s affected. Service remains suspended on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines in both directions between Manhattan and the Bronx due to severe flooding caused by today’s storm, Metro-North announced on his X account. “Customers are strongly advised to delay travel, if possible.”
Take a high place
A woman crosses a flooded street in the middle of heavy rain that hit NYC.REUTERS
In that vein, Gothamites should seek higher ground to escape the rising flood waters, according to Ready.Gov.
That meant going to the upper floors of buildings amid underground flooding — a common phenomenon during this particular storm — although officials advised against climbing onto roofs unless absolutely necessary.
Of the 13 people who died in Typhoon Ida in 2021, 11 were reportedly trapped in flooded basements.
Avoid playing in flood water
Residents shelter from the storm in Westchester.REUTERS
Pools of water left behind by floods may look harmless but don’t even think about swimming in them.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, flood water can contain contaminants from debris to industrial waste — and even raw sewage.
Last fall, flesh-eating infections spiked across Florida as residents exposed to standing water and floodwaters after Hurricane Ian.
Some of the bacteria were reportedly caused by faeces leaking into the water from the sewer system.
Check for at-risk individuals
People navigate the platform at the Church Avenue subway station as service is suspended during heavy rain Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. Getty Images
Flooding is not a free for all.
Experts advise people to look out for others who may not receive information quickly enough, such as those living on the ground level.
Also at risk are those who need to travel, such as parents picking up children from school.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
