The East Coast was slammed with torrential rain and flash flooding Monday that killed at least two people, turned streets into rivers, shut down subways, stranded drivers and prompted water rescues.
The tristate area was hit hard, with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declaring a state of emergency, first responders commandeering local cars to rescue people stuck in floods, and widespread flight cancellations and delays.
Two people died in Plainfield, New Jersey, on Monday after their car was swept into Cedar Brook during the height of the storm, city officials said.
“Emergency personnel responded quickly, but tragically, both individuals were pronounced deceased at the scene,” the city said in a statement. The two were not publicly identified, pending notification to their families.
In New York City, doomsday-like videos showed floods reaching the subway platforms.
The city experienced a daily record rainfall of 2.64 inches, with 2.07 inches falling in less than one hour. Monday’s hourly rainfall rate exceeded the city stormwater system’s capacity, which is designed to withstand 1.75 inches per hour, prompting subway flooding.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, flooding was reported on Route 22 and Route 27, and residents were advised to stay indoors.
In North Plainfield, New Jersey, a house exploded around 11:30 p.m. Monday. Firefighters found it engulfed in flames as severe floodwaters swept through the neighborhood. The occupants were not home, however, after they had evacuated to higher ground before the explosion, according to North Plainfield Fire Chief William Eaton.
In Plainfield, a temporary shelter was opened for displaced locals.
The two deaths in Plainfield followed another severe storm July 3 that killed two people.
“All of Plainfield grieves this latest loss,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said. “To lose four residents in such a short span of time is unimaginable. We mourn with the families, and we remain committed to doing all we can to strengthen our emergency response systems and protect our residents from future harm.”
On the ground, first responders in New Jersey worked around the clock to rescue people from submerged vehicles.
“Pretty scary. I’m lucky because I didn’t have my kids with me,” one woman told “TODAY” after a front-loader construction vehicle picked up trapped drivers and brought them to higher ground.
Violet Frederick said police helped her to safety before using her Jeep for more rescues.
“Then they go, ‘OK, take everything you need out of your car, we need to go rescue people now,'” she told NBC New York.
A flash flood emergency was declared overnight for Petersburg, Virginia, where 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across the area in just a couple of hours.
A flood watch is in effect for central and eastern Virginia, as well as lower Maryland, through midnight Tuesday.
“Very heavy rainfall over the past 24 hrs has led to very saturated ground, and it will not take much more rainfall to quickly cause additional flash flooding,” the National Weather Service Office of Wakefield said early Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Plant City, Florida, east of Tampa, nearly 10 inches of rain fell in three hours, surpassing the criteria of a 1,000-year rain event.
More flooding is possible Tuesday, with 12 million people under flood watches this morning across central Texas, eastern Oklahoma, into Arkansas, and parts of Virginia and North Carolina.
Several different regions are at risk for flooding, including the mid-Atlantic (Virginia to North Carolina), central Florida, the Hill Country of Texas, which suffered deadly floods over the Fourth of July weekend, southern Arizona and the Upper Midwest.
Across all of these regions, afternoon thunderstorms capable of producing rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches or more per hour could cause flash flooding.
A flood watch is in effect for the Rio Grande, Edwards Plateau, Hill Country and the Interstate 35 corridor in Texas through 1 p.m. CT Tuesday, with 1 to 3 inches of rain expected, with isolated amounts of up to 6 inches possible.
The Hill Country is still reeling from Fourth of July flooding that killed 132 and left more than 100 people missing. Flash flooding may occur as rivers are “already running at above normal levels,” the weather service warned.
On Monday night, Maverick County, on the southwest border of Texas near the Mexico border, issued a mandatory evacuation order for the Quemado and Normandy communities because of the heavy rain and rising water levels.
“NOW IS THE TIME TO EVACUATE. DO NOT WAIT,” the county wrote on Facebook.
Fires
To the west, nearly 60,000 acres have burned in the White Sage and Dragon Bravo fires near the Grand Canyon, forcing the closure of the North Rim of the beloved national park.
The Dragon Bravo Fire began July 4 near the canyon’s North Rim. Days later, the White Sage Fire ignited 35 miles north, just outside of the park, and has since quadrupled in size. Both were caused by lightning.
As of Tuesday morning, the Dragon Bravo Fire has burned 8,750 acres and remains at zero percent containment, while the White Sage Fire has burned 51,922 acres and also stands at zero percent containment.
More than 70 structures have been lost in the blazes, and over 500 people have been evacuated.
The historic Grand Canyon Lodge, a gem of American history, was lost to the flames Saturday. Built in 1928, it was the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim and served as a well-known park landmark.
“It has been a trying week for everyone. We had approximately 50 employees who were evacuated from the North Rim this last weekend, and the loss is devastating. We lost a lot of our employee housing for the National Park Service,” Public Affairs Officer Joelle Baird told NBC News.
