Floods in New York awaiting Storm Elsa on Friday

New York | Water inundated several subway stations and severed major arteries Thursday in New York City, with more flooding looming on Friday with the expected arrival of the storm. Elsa.

Between 5 and 10 cm of water fell in a series of thunderstorms over New York and surrounding areas Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, “causing widespread flash floods in certain places.”

Subway commuters posted video footage of some of the impressive flooded 157th Street Station north of Manhattan on Twitter.

We see people with waist-deep water, somehow crossing a black puddle to get to the docks.

“Line 1 and a are really hit, with a lot of flooding at the stations,” Sarah Feinberg, president of the New York Public Transportation Authority, admitted Thursday night, during a press conference.

Some major roads, particularly in the Bronx, were temporarily closed, disrupting traffic when leaving offices. The NYPD has tweeted a video of motorists stranded while being rescued from the water.

The NWS warned of possible new flooding by Friday morning, with heavy rain due to the storm expected to reach the northeast. Elsa, from Florida.

Despite the work that has been undertaken to fortify the city against flooding since Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 – which killed 44 people and paralyzed the US economic capital for several days – New York, the city surrounded by water, remains highly vulnerable to flooding, which is expected to lead to their frequency. increases with climate change.

Several officials, including Eric Adams, the Brooklyn president and favorite in November’s mayoral elections since winning the Democratic primary this week, called Thursday night for urgent investments to shore up infrastructure.

One of her main opponents, Catherine Garcia, who oversaw the pumping of the water after Sandy, warned that “bouts of severe weather like this will not go away.” “We must invest in strategies to protect the city.”