NYC issues flood warnings as thunderstorms move up East Coast
Federal forecasters placed flood watches for millions of residents from Maryland to Connecticut, and New York City Emergency Management opened shelters and warned of heavy rain and flash-flood risk through Sunday.
Federal forecasters issued flood alerts for about 39 million people late Saturday into Sunday as a line of thunderstorms stretched from Washington, D.C., to New Haven, Connecticut. The National Weather Service released flood watches for parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, with a watch for Washington, D.C., ending early Sunday.
New York City Emergency Management announced that 5 to 7 inches of rain could fall in Nassau and Suffolk counties and southern Connecticut, and cautioned that the city’s eastern boroughs may also receive heavy rain. The agency opened 51 weather shelters for residents vulnerable to floodwaters, including those living in basement apartments.
“A small shift in where the rain sets up would bring 5 to 7 inch totals and a much higher flash flooding risk into eastern Brooklyn and Queens,” the agency said, urging people in those neighborhoods to move to higher ground.
A flood watch for New York City was scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. Sunday and run through noon, while Philadelphia and surrounding counties remained under a watch through the morning. Southern Connecticut, including northern New Haven, also had a flood watch in effect through Sunday afternoon.
Meteorologists explained that a trough of cold air aloft moving eastward is colliding with warmer air, creating conditions that could produce excessive rainfall and severe thunderstorms.