City officials issued warnings and directed residents to move to higher ground as New York City’s Hudson Valley was hit hard, with Democrat state senator James Scoffis reporting one death in the Highlands town on Sunday.
The senator also said that efforts are ongoing to determine whether there were more casualties, as “vital infrastructure and homes have been washed away.”
He further said, in some cases, entire roads were not only impassable due to flooding but were “completely destroyed.”
Flooding and roads were also reported by the nearby US Army garrison at West Point.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said: 5 to 8 inches of rain fell in Orange County and Rockland County, advising people to stay indoors.
Describing the flooding as “life-threatening,” Governor Cathy Hochul issued a state of emergency for Orange and Ontario counties late Sunday. He said about 13,000 residents were without power in Orange County due to the storm.
The NWS said “torrential rain” is likely to cause flash flooding in Manhattan and the Bronx.
The last such flooding came from the remainder of Hurricane Ida in 2021 and killed 44 people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, 16 of them in New York City. Poor drainage systems and improper infrastructure were the main reasons for the vulnerability to floods.
The weather also affected travel services, and US train service Amtrak said it temporarily halted services between New York City and Albany, while Newark and LaGuardia airports reported disruptions to flight operations.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus warned residents in a Facebook update from the Highland Falls area in the southern part of the county, “If you don’t need to be on the road, stay off the road. We have many emergencies.”
Several streets were flooded and landslides were reported by the emergency services office in the city of Cornwall in Orange County. “Travel is impossible,” the office said on Facebook.
New York State Police spokesman Steven Newell said: “State troopers were assisting stranded motorists on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Rockland County.” He also reported the “terrible” condition of the roads being broken.
Pictures released by police showed submerged vehicles and damaged roads on the highway.
Hochul told local reporters that the state is likely to face back-to-back floods.
“My biggest concern,” she said, “is the fact that the majority of lives lost during a flood event are because they are in their vehicles—not in their homes, but in their vehicles.”
The National Weather Service said Sunday that the threat of flash flooding could extend to Vermont on Monday.
Governor Phil Scott (R) declared a state of emergency in Vermont on Sunday in anticipation of storms and possible flooding.
