Numerous roads were shut down and impassable on Sunday after torrential rain impacted New York and Pennsylvania.
Heavy rain drenched the Northeast throughout the day on Sunday. In Pennsylvania, the first reports of flooding occurred around 12 p.m. EDT in Juniata County, where roads were washed out. As the rain moved east, a bevy of flooding reports came in for the eastern part of the state into the evening.
Trained spotters reported a water rescue was underway for a truck trapped in flooding in Berks County, Pennsylvania, just before 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Several roads in the area were also impassable due to the rising water, including Highway US 22 and Pennsylvania Route 309.
As the deluge of rain moved northeast, emergency management officials in Durham Township, Pennsylvania, — located about 12 miles southeast of Allentown — reported evacuations due to rising water in the area.
“Highland Falls is unreachable from I-87 or Route 6, according to state police who provided these photos of the area and West Point,” said Blaise Gomez, a Channel 12 News reporter in Westchester County.
In New York, several roads became impassable on Sunday evening, including multiple vehicles trapped and submerged in flood waters in Orange County. Significant flooding was ongoing on Main Street in Highland Falls as multiple cars had water flowing up to the tops of them.
The National Weather Service reported a portion of US 6 near Fort Montgomery, New York, collapsed west of the Palisades Interstate Parkway on Sunday evening. Several roads in the area were closed as water rescues took place. Highland Falls was unreachable from Interstate 87 or Route 6 due to the flooding, according to News 12.
A flash flood emergency was issued for the area just after 5 p.m. EDT and was in effect until 8 p.m. Sunday night.
Rainfall amounts upwards of 2-4 inches had already fallen across the region by Sunday afternoon in drenching storms, according to local observation sites. Storm totals even eclipsed record numbers in some areas. Reading, Pennsylvania, recorded 4.52 inches of rain as of 3:28 p.n. EDT on Sunday, breaking the daily maximum rainfall record previously set in 1952.
Parts of the northeast have seen a warning of floods that included a dangerous flood that hit Norfolk, Connecticut.
The National Weather Service issued a warning in the surrounding of the New York metropolitan area that included a flooding of thunderstorms and floods.
“Stay away or be swept away. River banks and culverts can become
unstable and unsafe,” the National Weather Service in a warning statement.
Produced in association with AccuWeather
Edited by Alberto Arellano and Joseph Hammond
