Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain triggered flash flood warnings across the New York City Metro area on Thursday, just in time to make for an evening commute from hell for many train and bus riders.
Videos and pictures have gone viral showing subway stations, roads and even Grand Central Station inundated with rain water.
One wild scene from Brooklyn shows people having to literally climb out of a flooded subway station.
People getting off the train at Brooklyn’s 7th Avenue during the commute from hell Thursday afternoon and evening were forced to literally climb out of the subway station because of flash flooding.
Insane video shows New Yorkers carefully moving along the station's black iron gates, pulling themselves along step-by-step to avoid the rising — and probably disgusting — floodwater that appeared to be about a foot in some places.
And not for nothing, this group of about two dozen NYers seen in the video waited their turns very patiently — not exactly something we're known for, especially during a nightmare commute.
A Long Island Railroad train filled with passengers was halted in Queens after the tracks were consumed by floodwater from Thursday's ongoing storm.
Emergency responders with the FDNY were down on the tracks, including parts that weren't even visible because of the murky water from the flood, as they tried to help clear the tracks and assist passengers to safety.
Officers with the MTA police responded alongside FDNY emergency responders to help load the passengers off of the halted train after the downpour let up.
Jessica Grant, a Stony Brook resident who was taking the train home after a trip to Lake George, said she could see the water covering the tracks while she was on the train.
Passengers on a Long Island Railroad train in Bayside, Queens, had to evacuate after the tracks were filled with floodwater during the storm that hit the Big Apple on Thursday. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV
“I was scared at first. About like 15 minutes after we stopped on the tracks, all the lights went off. That’s when I got a little scared and went ‘oh boy, something’s going on’,” she said.
One claustrophobic passenger started to panic once the cars started to heat up.
“It’s still scary. I don’t have depth perception and I have double vision. It’s scary, and it was getting hot,” she said.
First responders arrived at the scene to help passengers get off the train. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV
The storm has impacted a vast amount of public transportation across New York City, with certain areas accumulating over three inches of water. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV
Throughout the city, nearly every form of public transportation has been impacted by the storm that is anticipated to dump more than three inches of water over the city through Friday morning.
The major NYC-area airports all experienced delays while an MTA bus somehow flooded — on top of Thursday morning's power outage that spelled disaster for multiple subway lines at stations that are also seeing water pour through the walls.
A bus in Brooklyn inexplicably had water fill its center aisle during Thursday's storm, leaving commuters confounded.
The MTA bus was inching through Flatbush while water steadily trickled down the aisle, sloshing back and forth while the passengers watched on in sheer confusion.
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"They need traffic agents over here," the person recording the growing puddle on the bus said. "It is flooded."
Subway stations across the boroughs have also seen flooding with stormwater even slipping through cracks in the walls.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced an emergency declaration during Thursday's thunderstorm while many parts of the city, including major roadways and subway stations, experienced flooding.
The mayor's declaration follows Gov. Kathy Hochul's issued state of emergency for the city, which freed up certain federal assets to be used as needed while the storm progresses.
The station at J Street Metrotech Steven Vago/NY Post
Parts of the city could see up to three inches of rain through Friday morning, Adams said, and encouraged anyone living in basement-level apartments to seek higher ground immediately.
Story here 👉️ https://t.co/3HL2il1I3x | Floodwater seeped through the walls of the 7th Avenue station in Park Slope on Thursday as storms brought heavy rain and flooding to New York City. pic.twitter.com/nXShYnP0Vb
So far, no corner of NYC has been spared by the storm. Even the subways, including Grand Central Station's platform, have had floodwater trickle down from the roadways.
At the 7th Avenue station in Park Slope, water even started to burst through the walls, according to a wild video.
Alternate side parking regulations will be suspended on Friday to permit for "weather operations," the mayor's office announced.
Firefighters rushed to the scene after several vehicles got stuck in Queens. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV
The usually strict rules about parking are typically only waived during most government and religious holidays along with major city-wide celebrations, including NYC's annual Fourth of July fireworks show and New Year's Eve, according to the Department of Transportation.
Sections of major New York roadways primarily heading east and southbound were closed or blocked by flooding sparked by Thursday's storm that stretched across the streets.
The Long Island Expressway was closed heading eastbound at Springfield Boulevard, along with the westbound right lane at Bell Boulevard, according to the NYPD.
The southbound lanes on the Cross Island Parkway were outright blocked by flooding at the Throggs Neck Bridge, according to the NYPD.
The Staten Island Expressway's eastbound lanes at Lambert Street were also blocked by flooding, according to the NYPD.
Several vehicles were stranded at the ClearView Expressway in Queens on Thursday. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV
Meanwhile, some cars on the Clearview Expressway, including an illegal semi-truck, were stranded in the road as floods overwhelmed drivers.
All flights at the three main NYC-area airports are delayed for up to three hours while others are still being held in the midst of Thursday's torrential downpour across the tri-state.
At John F. Kennedy International Airport, inbound flights are delayed at their origin for up to three hours, while departures are stalled for around 90 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration flight tracker.
All three major NYC-area airports are experiencing severe delays. Christopher Sadowski
Newark International Airport will outright hold all inbound flights at their origins until 5 p.m. on top of nearly four-hour-long delays.
La Guardia Airport isn't faring any better with all its inbound flights delayed until 4:45 p.m. and all departing flights held until 5 p.m.
A power outage at a Manhattan subway station continues to push delays on multiple trains as commuters desperately try to return home ahead of Thursday's storm.
Delays and service changes are still expected on the A, D, E, B, F and C trains, the NYPD said on X.
On top of that, the 6, G, N and Q trains are also experiencing delays, according to the MTA.
Meanwhile, the M train is experiencing extreme delays, per the MTA.
Commuters rushed to the subway despite severe chaos caused by an earlier power outage. William Farrington
The Z train has no services scheduled for the rest of the day, either, according to the MTA.
A power outage near Manhattan’s West Fourth Street station Thursday morning threw multiple lines for a loop during the morning rush hour, forcing some to reroute.
Flash flooding sparked by Thursday's storm pushed water over the edge of the street and down onto lower levels, turning stairways into waterfalls, according to a mind-boggling video.
Great Neck, New York, a small village just 10 miles outside of Queens, experienced disastrous flooding that overwhelmed the streets.
Even so, commuters were still on the roads, attempting to beat the rain home.
New York City and New Jersey are both under states of emergency through the end of Thursday's torrential downpour. Three counties in southern New Jersey are also under a tornado warning, according to the National Weather Service.
A Queens highway was left underwater, trapping a semi-truck and other vehicles, on Thursday afternoon as torrential rain stormed into the area — prompting Gov. Hochul to declare a statement of emergency for the Big Apple.
Flooded highway at Northern Boulevard has shutdown Queens .Clearview Expressway NYC DOT
Shocking footage of the flooding on parts of the Clearview Expressway, near Northern Boulevard, were posted on X and the highway was subsequently closed in both directions, according to the NYPD.
Photos circulating on social media, captured from a traffic cam, show at least two cars nearly fully submerged in waters that rise to the door of an 18-wheel truck that appears to be stalled out.
