Deadly Flooding Sweeps Through Hudson River Valley

(TNS) – Deadly flooding swept through the lower Hudson River Valley north of New York City, snarling commuter and freight travel as a slow-moving weather front made its way through the U.S. Northeast promising more devastation.

As much as 8.12 inches (20.6 centimeters) of rain fell at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point through 6 a.m. ET. Monday after a flash flood emergency unfolded in the region the prior day, said Andrew Orrison, a forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. At least one person died in Orange County, New York. Social media posts showed many roads were flooded or blocked by debris.

The flooding will likely hit eastern New York and Vermont hardest because those regions have had a lot of rain in recent weeks, leaving the soil saturated, according to Orrison. Crews in Vermont have already rescued several people and multiple roads are closed around the state, according to a tweet from the state police.

The conditions are the result of a combination of several weather systems. A slow-moving cold front supported by a larger upper level trough of low pressure, unusual for this time of year, has been able to tap into a steady flow of moisture off the Atlantic. And that flow has made worse by unusually high ocean temperatures, Orrison said.

“The warm ocean helps contribute additional moisture around this front,” he added.

The world’s oceans have seen record warming through 2023, which many scientists attribute mainly to climate change, as well as other factors. In a warming world, brought on by rising greenhouse gases, the atmosphere can hold more water, which has caused more extreme flooding.

“My friends, this is the new normal,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at a press conference. “And we in government, working with our partners on the ground, have to work with our communities to build up resiliency, to be prepared for the worst, because the worst continues to happen.”

Hochul said she has reached out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state’s two U.S. Senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Rivers and streams have swelled their banks due to the rain. The Housatonic River rose by 6 feet in some parts of Connecticut during the past day, data from the National Weather Service show.

Flood watches and warnings stretch from northern New Jersey to western Maine, and rainfall alerts have been posted in Quebec by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“The immediate concern for today is the heavy rain and the flooding across the Northeast [U.S.], especially areas north of New York City,” Orrison said. “The worst conditions should be today and tonight.”

Trains on Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson Line in New York have been halted between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie to let crews repair tracks and remove downed trees, according to the commuter-rail agency’s website. Buses will provide limited service to “essential travelers,” the agency said in a statement.

Service on Metro-North’s Wassaic Branch has also been suspended. Amtrak temporarily halted travel between New York City and Albany due to track damage, its website said.

Freight railroad CSX said it expects shipping delays of up to 24 hours on its line between Selkirk, New York, and New Jersey because of the storm.

In the air, some 2,509 flights were cancelled Sunday and Monday with the majority of those occurring at New York City area airports, as well as Boston, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking company.

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(With assistance from Thomas Black, Skylar Woodhouse and Laura Nahmias)

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