Flash flood warnings move into New England as heavy rain continues across the Northeast

A band of slow-moving downpours that began in New Jersey and Pennsylvania is now advancing into New England, prompting flash-flood warnings from Connecticut to Albany, New York. The National Weather Service reports rainfall totals of 2 to 6 inches in New York’s Hudson Valley, with 5 to 7 inches possible in the Berkshires and Worcester Hills, where terrain could amplify flooding.

More than 11 million people are under flood watches across eastern New York and western New England, with the highest risk in parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. Forecasts call for 2 to 4 inches of rain across much of southwest New England and continued heavy rain into eastern Massachusetts, including Boston, through Wednesday afternoon.

Rescue operations have been underway. At least 20 people, including a wheelchair-bound individual, were rescued from floodwater in Paterson, New Jersey, and three people and two dogs were saved from a home in Coalport, Pennsylvania. In Reading, Pennsylvania, five people, one of them a child, were pulled from a vehicle inundated by floodwater.

Transportation has been disrupted. Flooded roads forced lane closures on US 1/9 near the Pulaski Skyway in Hudson County, New Jersey, and stranded vehicles were reported on Staten Island and in other parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Airports in the region have also been affected, with roughly 200 flights canceled or delayed at New York City’s LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports, and more than 30 flights canceled at Boston Logan.

Meteorologists expect rain rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour to continue through Wednesday afternoon, keeping the risk of additional significant flooding high. The system should weaken by Wednesday evening, reducing rainfall intensity and the likelihood of widespread flooding. A lower-level risk of isolated flooding rain remains in place from Boston to coastal Maine on Thursday.