Heavy Rains Cripple New York City

Heavy rains poured down over New York City today wrecking havoc and causing problems throughout the city. Flooding in the streets disrupted traffic flow and closed down many major transportation routes. Early in the morning trucks and cars were trapped at intersections with their drivers unable to get to dry ground. They could only wait until the water subsided.

Rush hour as disrupted as many heading for work could not get there. At one point there was no train service at all throughout the city. An emergency report stated that the Number 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - L - A - C - E - J and the 42 Street Shuttle were all out of service. One family member of mine trying to get to work was stranded in Brooklyn on Eastern Parkway. People at every train station were stranded.

Nothing was running. Buses immediately became crowded when the subways emptied. Personnel on the trains turned away passengers saying there was no service. Taxi services became fully used and unavailable. Excess traffic and flooded roads combined to create extensive delays on major roads and highways. All of this after the rain had stopped.

Mayor Bloomberg went to view the area and also gave a press conference followed by reports from several other City and Con Edison officials as well as a Question and answer period. The mayor stated during the conference that the water run off from rain was designed to run onto the roads first rather than to flow into residential areas.

A possibility of a tornado warning for parts of Brooklyn and Queens did occur. It is being investigated exactly what went through an area of Bayridge Brooklyn but whatever it was, it peeled back the roofs of several buildings and tore of the fonts of some buildings tossing debris across the street onto several cars.

Buildings effected by the tornado like weather event are being inspected to see if they are safe to go into and to live in. The three categories being marked on the buildings are:

Vacate

Restricted

Safe

A temporary shelter located at 59 Street and 6^th Avenue is being made available for those being evacuated from the damaged buildings. The Mayor also said that for people living on the street, he is concerned about the heat of today's weather. There is going to be today a double outreach for those on the street.

Speaking for the State, Michael Balboni said that cars and personal property damages by owners should first look at their insurance. Next assessments for small business loans would be considered and determined. 40 homes were damaged and the damage is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars. OEM and City Commissioners wee thanked for their immediate responses. FEMA is being checked for federal help. There is a hope that the Governor will designate this a disaster area.

According to Mayor Bloomberg, 40 buildings were damaged seriously and more have had minor damage. At least 100 autos were damaged and there has been damage due to trees and one fatality on Staten Island. The fatality occurred when a car struck a woman car in her car causing her death under an overpass. Had it not been for the rain and flooding, she would not have been there the mayor said. There have also been non threatening injuries.

Restored services on the trains are running slowly and stops are limited or truncated. People are crowding like sardines onto trains that will only go one or two stops to 59^th Street. MTA representative Lee Sanders said that better design issue mass transit system vulnerable to natural events very heavy rain.