Northeast Flooding Update: Road Closures Remain Throughout Long Island of New York Due to Flood Waters

By Jon Erdman
Published: August 13,2014


 
Torrential rain brought more than a foot of water to parts of Long Island, New York, Wednesday, pushing rescuers into high alert mode across the area.
A state of emergency was declared for the town of Islip after 13.57 inches of rain fell, setting a new record. Thirteen inches is more rainfall than Islip would see during all three summer months combined, according to the Associated Press.
Photos show vehicles stranded and deep water covering roads. As of late Wednesday night, some roads were still closed because of flooding, per the New York State Department of Transportation.
Numerous streets were shut down throughot the day, including parts of the Long Island Expressway, the Southern State Parkway, the Northern State Parkway, the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, the Sunrise Highway, route 110, the Sagtikos Parkway and the Jericho Turnpike.
The westbound lane of Hulse Landing Road near Wading River, New York partially collapsed, according to media reports.
A traffic cam on the Southern State Parkway captured the scene of dozens of cars stranded near Belmont Avenue. Cars were also stranded in front of the Bay Shore Mall on Sunrise Highway. Fire department boats were deployed to rescue stranded motorists in Nesconset, New York. At least two feet of water flooded the Bay Shore train station's parking lot, and a parking lot at Long Island MacArthur Airport.
Eight inches of water had entered the first floor of a home in Bellmore, New York, and there was a report of eight feet of water in a basement in Holbrook.
Islip picked up a whopping 9.71 inches of rain in just two hours ending at 6:56 a.m. ET, including an incredible one-hour total of 5.34 inches between 4:56 and 5:56 a.m. ET. As of just before 12 p.m. ET, 13.5 inches of rain had fallen in Islip since midnight, over three times the August monthly average of 3.98 inches, and approaching not only their August monthly rain record of 13.78 inches in 1990, but also their wettest single month, 14.07 inches in October 2005. Islip also broke the 24 hour rainfall record for the entire state of New York.
(MORE: Northeast radar | Northeast flood alerts)
The heavy rain spread into southern Connecticut and Rhode Island, where cars were submerged off I-95 near Branford, and two feet of water covered route 44 in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
The Long Island and Connecticut flooding was only the continuation of a long swath of heavy rain Tuesday and Tuesday night from the Nation's Capital and Baltimore into New Jersey.
Tuesday, a flash flood emergency developed in Baltimore where more than 8 inches of rain fell southeast of the city. Heavy rain then spread Tuesday night and Wednesday morning into parts of southern New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut.
(MORE: Record Rainfall Floods Baltimore-Washington Area)
By far the most dangerous thing you can do in a flash flood is attempt to drive in flood waters. This infographic from our partners at Weather Underground shows the startling facts that few people realize about flooding.