New Yorkers were still drying out Saturday from the record-setting deluge of a day earlier, with Gov. Hochul describing the pounding storm as New York’s worst in decades.
“There are some New Yorkers who have never seen the likes of what we experienced (Friday) in their entire lives,” the governor said as rain continued to fall in some areas. “This event was historic … In some areas it was record-shattering and it is the most rain ever recorded in a single day” at JFK airport in Queens.
“It’s Mother Nature at her most powerful,” she added one day after the FDNY executed three rescues from flooded basements and 15 car rescues of stranded drivers. And a state of emergency remained in effect Saturday in the storm’s aftermath, with some New Yorkers complaining about a lack of updates from officials during the deluge.
“I think there was a lot of under-communication,” said Jessica Langrock, 26, of Chinatown. “There were phone alerts sent … The alerts were morning of, after the storm already happened. So at that point, your basement’s sort of already flooded.”
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
A state of emergency remained in effect Saturday as the city dried out from a devastating storm described by Gov. Hochul as the worst seen in parts of New York for seven decades. In this photo, Gov. Hochul speaks during a press conference following her visit to the MTA Rail Control Center in Manhattan on Sept. 30, 2023.
Long Islander Faith Maldonado, a restaurant worker, couldn’t make it to work Friday due to the bad weather. She agreed about a lack of weather warnings. Her usual 20-minute ride was quickly shut down by flooding and three cars trapped in the floodwaters, their emergency lights blinking.
“I was inconvenienced by not being able to get to work,” she said. “But it was nowhere near my house being flooded.”
Mayor Adams, who came under criticism Friday for his handling of the storm response, offered his praise a day later for the city’s efforts after touring Canarsie, Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay and other Brooklyn neighborhoods Saturday.
“(We) just really need to commend the city,” he said. “It’s unprecedented when you get this level of rainfall and now we’re moving to the second phase to make sure we clean up those areas that were heavily hit.”
The powerful storm’s aftermath remained visible around the city, with one disabled vehicle still sitting in the middle of a South Williamsburg street one day after the deluge, with a light rain still falling.
“When I came out here, this whole walkway was flooded,” said local resident Stacy Youmans, 42. “You can still see all the garbage. The whole courtyard was flooded. I had to walk down and around. It was a lot of people trying to get to the train station.”
Once she reached the G line stop, Youmans found the stop was flooded and boarded a bus to a J line station.
Hochul reported 28 New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and Long Island were rescued Friday from the raging waters, adding severe weather like the storm was becoming a more regular threat due to climate change.
“This was the kind of rain that was once unimaginable,” she said. “Called it a once-in-a-century storm. But this is the third time since I was sworn in two years ago I’ve had a once-in-a-century storm.”
The National Weather Service reported more than eight inches of rain at the airport, along with more than six inches in the Bronx and Manhattan and seven-plus inches in Brooklyn one day after the downpour wreaked havoc across the boroughs.
The Saturday forecast included stifling humidity with a chance of additional showers, giving way to a sunny Sunday with temperatures in the mid-70s.