Approximately 23 million people were under flood watches across parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Friday morning, as extreme rainfall shut off subway lines and flooded streets.
A state of emergency has been declared in New York City and two other surrounding areas after “extreme rainfall” caused widespread flooding in the northeast region.
Up to 13cm (five inches) of rain fell in some areas overnight, and as much as 18cm (seven inches) more was expected throughout the day, New York governor, Kathy Hochul, said.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday morning, she declared a state of emergency in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, due to the weather.
Earlier on Friday, Ms Hochul said: “This is a dangerous, life-threatening storm. Count on this for the next 20 hours.”
She said her message to New Yorkers is that the “water is deadly”.
Approximately 23 million people were under flood watches across parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut on Friday morning, with flash flood warnings in effect for parts of Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and New Jersey, according to NBC.
Footage posted on social media showed water pouring into underground stations and streets that had been turned into small lakes.
Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, warned people against attempting to travel in the conditions until it clears.
Chaos during rush hour saw some drivers abandon their cars as traffic came to a standstill on a stretch of FDR Drive – a major road along the east side of Manhattan.