The city of New York faces a severe weather accompanied by flash floods. These have disrupted travel both above and below ground level. Motorists remain stranded in the water while subway stations are submerged. The city is waiting for tropical storm Elsa to strike. People have uploaded videos on social media platforms that depict the pathetic condition of New Yorkers. It seems there were thunderstorms with hail in New Jersey and it led to flash floods in Manhattan.
These do not have any links to Elsa. However, New Yorkers had a brief glimpse of the probable future scenario when Tropical Storm Elsa does strike. The prediction is for Friday afternoon and it would arrive with tropical-force winds and heavy rain. Obviously, residents have to be prepared to handle the situation. They can expect damages to the infrastructures, spells of power failure etcetera.
Daily Mail UK says on an expressway in Bronx, the authorities deployed special groups on rescue missions for motorists stranded in deep waters with their vehicles. Moreover, a number of subway stations in Manhattan had to tolerate severe flooding.
The water submerged a station in the Washington Heights neighborhood.
The floods affected travel
The major airports of New York City experienced delays of incoming traffic. Those who were on the roads had to innovate to save themselves from the dangers of water on ground and rainfall from above. The Metropolitan Transit Agency cautioned about suspension of train services in certain sections. Daily Mail UK quotes the agency saying: “Crews are actively addressing flooding issues in our stations.” It went on to add that when the streets above flood, the water will always flow downhill and there will be problems to navigate in the subways.
Baseball games rescheduled because of the floods
The inclement weather conditions and floods have given rise to uncertainty regarding sports activities like baseball.
One casualty was the New York Mets game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. There are possibilities of rescheduling it to Friday. That, again, could be a risky affair because Tropical Storm Elsa could play spoilsport. Daily Mail UK adds that it turned out to be the second rainout this week for the Mets. They waited for a long time to play against the Milwaukee Brewers but finally the Mets owner Steve Cohen called it off. State Senator Mike Gianaris expressed concerns about the prevalent weather condition. He tweeted: “This is only going to get worse as Elsa passes through. Please be safe and don’t go out unless absolutely necessary.” People should heed the advice for their own safety.
Floods crippled travel networks in New York City
According to ABC 7 NY, New York City faced a miserable time as powerful thunderstorms coupled with flash floods threw travel networks out of gear. It led to a total shutdown of an expressway and the stranded motorists had to wait for rescue teams. Roads turned into rivers and subway stations into pools. The conditions did not spare the airports at LaGuardia and at JFK.