At Least One Dead in Brooklyn as Hurricane Ida Floods Streets, Cellars All Over Borough
Flooding from the historic hurricane, another of many recent signs of climate change, was especially notable in that it hit areas all over the borough and not only the usual expected coastal and low-lying areas.
Downtown Brooklyn the morning after Hurricane Ida. Photo by Susan De Vries
Hurricane Ida dropped several inches of rain on Brooklyn in only an hour Wednesday night, flooding streets and basements throughout the borough and leaving one dead, as Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency. Flooding from the historic hurricane, another of many recent signs of climate change, was especially notable in that it hit areas all over the borough and not only the usual expected coastal and low-lying areas.
The subway system shut down entirely in the late evening Wednesday, and sirens could be heard all night and this morning. A 66-year-old man died in Cypress Hills in Brooklyn when he was trapped in a flooded basement, the New York Post reported. (In nearby Queens, at least seven people drowned in basement apartments or cellars, amNY said.) The lights dimmed briefly twice in Brooklyn homes just before the worst of the rainstorm.
The National Weather Service declared a “flash flood emergency” rather than a warning, a first. At least 20 trains were evacuated, amNY, the New York Times, Brooklyn Paper and others said.
Photos and videos posted on Twitter, Citizen and beyond show the widespread effects of the storm.
In the heart of Bed Stuy, on Fulton and Tompkins, flooding stranded cars, according to a report on Citizen. The rear of a building at 877 Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights partially collapsed. Seven people were trapped in a building submerged in as much as seven feet of water at 37 Throop Avenue in Williamsburg, said another report on Citizen.
https://twitter.com/MeganMcGibney/status/1433266121449291777
The storm comes on the back of Hurricane Henri, which pummeled Brooklyn and areas north days ago. The spring and summer have been particularly wet, with days of rain alternating with brief spurts of sun most weeks.
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