Overview
- Heavy thunderstorms dumped roughly 2–4 inches of rain in hours, producing rapid urban flash floods that closed lanes on the Long Island, Clearview and Brooklyn-Queens expressways and submerged neighborhood streets.
- The National Weather Service issued multiple flash-flood warnings and flood advisories for central Queens, parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx and several northern New Jersey counties as emergency alerts urged people to avoid flooded roads and move to higher floors.
- Rescuers pulled motorists from vehicles trapped by rising water—some drivers climbed out of windows to reach higher ground—and the MTA reported water on tracks that caused service disruptions at multiple subway stations.
- The FAA imposed ground stops and airports at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark experienced widespread delays and cancellations, leaving travelers and many World Cup visitors facing disrupted plans.
- The storms followed days of hazardous smoke from nearly 1,000 Canadian wildfires and forecasters say the rain and a passing cold front should help clear the air even as localized flooding and travel impacts continue to be managed.