(Washington) important floods hit the New York region and the state of New Jersey on the night of Monday to Tuesday, following the torrential rains caused by a stationary storm system.
Meteorological services have recorded accumulation of exceptional precipitation, causing significant disruption in transport and several rescue operations.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the state of emergency in several counties, calling on residents to stay at home. The authorities warned against dangerous traffic conditions and increased risks of sudden floods in densely populated urban areas.
In New York, JFK, Laguardia and Newark airports temporarily suspended departures. The New York metro was also strongly disrupted, with several interrupted lines and flooded stations, notably in Chelsea and in southern Manhattan. Massive traffic jams have paralyzed several main arteries of the city.
Photo Juan Luis Landaeta, supplied by Reuters
A metro station flooded in New York in the United States on July 14, 2025.
In New Jersey, the emergency services intervened many occasions to help blocked motorists or residents isolated by the rise of waters, especially in the Newark region. The northern state is still on flood alert until 7:15 a.m. local time (7 a.m.
Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania were also affected. A sudden flood alert was still underway in the center of Virginia on Tuesday, according to the NWS. No victim has been reported at this stage by local authorities.
According to weather services, some New York districts received between 38 and 45 millimeters of rain in less than two hours. In New Jersey, the cumulators have locally reached 150 millimeters. The saturation of soils and drainage networks has contributed to aggravating overflows.
The strongest rains shifted east on Tuesday, but the authorities call for vigilance, certain roads remaining impractical and the transport networks being still partially disturbed. Rehabilitation work is underway.
The question of adapting urban areas to extreme climate events is again raised by these floods. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for New York town hall, said on X that city infrastructure had to be modernized to face “this new climate reality”.
