BREAKING: Two tornadoes hit Queens and Long Island — residents in the affected counties urged to take immediate precautions
Flooding left drivers stranded Thursday as heavy rain rushed into homes and businesses in parts of Queens.
Cars were at a standstill on the Long Island Expressway, stopped in their tracks by a pool of water. The FDNY was seen shining lights under an overpass in what appeared to be an effort to make sure no one was trapped.
In Bayside Terrace, cars and buses drove through flood waters, and the rain looked more like ocean waves on 188th Street, where passengers desperately tried to push a car that was flooded out.
In Elmhurst, business owner Lester Lin says buses and vehicles couldn’t even stop in Thursday’s rain.
“And if they do, it’ll cause a little wave that’ll come up to the sidewalk and into the stores,” he said.
On Broadway across from his store, sandbags couldn’t stop the water from getting into a furniture business. An employee indicated that water rose up above his ankles.
“Up to your ankles at least, and manholes were open. Flooding from the local halal places,” Lin said.
He says Thursday’s flooding in the neighborhood is what they’re seeing every time it rains.
He said a local martial arts studio had to close early.
“Our neighbors … their gym always floods, then we go down to our local bakery, their basement floods,” Lin said. “Normally when we meet with [the Department of Environmental Protection], they tell us that nobody’s ever reported as a flood zone, but it makes sense because we are an immigrant neighborhood, and when we talk to our neighbors, they have no idea how to report those things.”
A rep for the DEP says it’s planning a meeting with local businesses and did a tour of the area on Aug. 11.
In a statement, it said, in part, “DEP is investing in flood-prone neighborhoods … The agency is advancing a multi-layered approach to stormwater management – combining sewer upgrades with underground stormwater storage.”
The rep adds that this method will help capture and hold rainwater before it enters the system, and further says the city activated a flash flood plan Thursday evening, deploying crews to catch basins across the city.
