NYC, NJ issue state of emergency orders amid flash flood emergency

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a state of emergency order Wednesday night amid historic rainfall that flooded and all but halted the city’s subway system.

In New Jersey, Newark Airport officials confirmed to The New York Times that it suspended all flight activity due to “severe flooding” after Gov. Phil Murphy (D) declared his own state of emergency.

BREAKING: I’m declaring a STATE OF EMERGENCY EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY in response to Tropical Storm Ida.

We will use every resource at our disposal to ensure the safety of New Jerseyans.

Stay off the roads, stay home, and stay safe.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) September 1, 2021

I’m declaring a state of emergency in New York City tonight.

We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) September 1, 2021

De Blasio called on New York City residents to stay inside, and stay off city roads and subways, footage of which shows water cascading through certain stations.

ALERT Vehicles literally floating in flood water in Queens, New York City pic.twitter.com/Xd99tYWrE0

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 1, 2021

The mayor’s order comes after the National Weather Service issued its first-ever flash flood emergency for parts of New York City, described as a warning issued for “exceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening or will happen soon.”

This looks more like a subway car wash than a subway station. This flooding has to be doing an incredible amount of damage to the NYC subway system. pic.twitter.com/bgtMbjiHvM

— Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) September 1, 2021

The weather service issued the same flash flood emergency an hour earlier for northern New Jersey.