New Yorkers braced for the possibility of heavy evening rains and high winds Friday as the remnants of Hurricane Debby approached the city.
A travel advisory issued by the city’s office of Emergency Management warned of the potential for “localized instances of flash flooding,” and advised New Yorkers to limit travel as the post-tropical depression arrived.
“Do not drive your vehicle or walk into areas where water covers the roadway as the water depth may be too great to allow you to cross safely,” the alert reads.
Mayor Adams planned to be out with city emergency management teams in the run-up to the storm, he said on WABC.
“I’ll be in the streets looking at some of the locations with the team,” he said. “We’re going to keep New Yorkers impressed.”
Adams warned New Yorkers that water levels could rise quickly once rain began.
“It’s best to be home and remember the ground is soaked due to the previous rainfalls that we received, so it brings a greater level of danger,” he said on CBS News.
“And just try not to walk under those large trees,” he added. “It’s about taking the necessary safety steps.”
Meanwhile, delays were building at major New York-area airports since early in the day.
Dozens of arriving and departing flights were canceled or delayed at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports by 4 p.m., flight tracker FlightAware reported. Nearly 90 flights from LaGuardia were canceled while more than 260 were delayed, the site said.
JFK and Newark were both experiencing delays for one-fourth of departing and arriving flights, with at least 75 flights out of JFK canceled, FlightAware said.
New Yorkers were expecting dangerous road conditions Friday evening as Debby — now classified as a post-tropical depression — makes its way north.
The National Weather Service predicted rainfall of up to 2 inches per hour for the New York metro area — a rate that could overwhelm the city’s storm sewer system and lead to flooding in streets and subway tunnels.
Wind gusts could reach up to 60 mph in the city and Long Island throughout the day, weather officials said. The MTA on Friday said tandem trucks and empty tractor trailers would be banned from the agency’s bridges as of 3 p.m. in anticipation of high winds.
Evan Simko-Bednarski
MTA crews ready a mobile pump unit outside of the South Ferry No. 1 train station Thursday. (Evan Simko-Bednarski)
In the city, MTA crews began mobilizing portable pump units this week in anticipation of the storm, and have inspected the system’s 286 stationary pumps to make sure they’re up to the task of clearing any storm water.
“My teams, we’ve inspected known flood locations to make sure that the track drains are clear, there’s no debris, make sure that the pumps are operating,” said Armando Crespo, NYC Transit’s head of infrastructure.
“We checked our emergency equipment to make sure that it’s working properly, the pump trains are at the yards to make sure that they’re manned and ready,” Crespo added.
He said his teams had also started covering sidewalk vents in known flood locations.
Subway travel in Brooklyn was briefly waylaid when a tree fell onto the tracks of the N train near the Eighth Ave. Station in Sunset Park, but it was not immediately clear whether the tree was downed by the storm.
NYC Transit crews had the tracks cleared as of 12:03 p.m.
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