NYC Subways FLOODED 💦 State of Emergency Declared in NJ After Record Rain Kills 2 What happens when your Monday commute turns into a disaster movie? Flash floods ripped through New Jersey and New York, killing at least two people, drowning subway stations, and breaking rainfall records that hadn’t budged since 1908. Streets turned into rivers, train platforms gushed like waterfalls, and now the entire region is bracing for more storms.
Governor Phil Murphy didn’t waste time: a state of emergency was declared Monday night in New Jersey as flash floods tore through the state like an ambush. Roads like Route 22 and Route 28 had to be completely shut down. Drivers were stranded. Public transit? Delayed. Canceled. Derailed by rising waters. PATH trains and NJ Transit lines scrambled to stay functional while emergency crews were deployed across counties. In Plainfield, where the fatalities occurred, it was a stark reminder that floods don’t wait for warning signs. They just happen.
Over in New York, subway stations became drowning zones. One viral video showed floodwater gushing off the platform and into a subway car like it was a busted dam. Commuters were left standing, soaked and stunned, as the city’s aging infrastructure once again buckled under pressure. Mayor Eric Adams didn’t mince words in Tuesday’s briefing. “Our sewer system is not built to manage this much water in a short period of time,” he admitted. And he’s not wrong. New York’s underground plumbing dates back a century. It’s a city built on layers, but we’re running out of time to reinforce the foundations.
Let’s talk scale. Clark, New Jersey—just a few miles from the deadly incident in Plainfield—recorded a staggering 6.67 inches of rain. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, logged 7 inches in five hours, prompting over a dozen water rescues. That’s not “a little wet.” That’s catastrophic. That’s climate chaos flexing its muscles. And the aftermath? Homes filled with over five feet of water. Cars completely submerged. Lives, disrupted or ended.
What’s more terrifying is that this isn’t over. The National Weather Service says this week is only round one. Flood watches stretch across Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and beyond. Scattered thunderstorms are lining up to drop even more rain over the central and eastern U.S. through Thursday. And let’s be real—our cities are not built for this new normal. Every time it rains like this, it’s not just water. It’s danger, damage, and deadly unpredictability.
The Bronx River overflowed early Tuesday. Metro-North service was temporarily wiped out. LaGuardia and Newark airports hit new rainfall records. This storm wasn’t just powerful. It was personal. It hit the infrastructure we rely on, the transit systems we trust, and the homes people have lived in for decades. It exposed just how fragile our daily lives are when nature decides to throw a tantrum.
And in the middle of all this, the most jarring reality is that these stories fade fast. Once the water drains and the headlines shift, we forget the fear. We forget the footage of drowning train cars and submerged highways. Until it happens again. And it will happen again.
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