Torrential rain floods New York streets and subway stations

Updated 24 August 2026, 10:00 CEST — Torrential rain flooded New York City streets and subway stations on Thursday evening, 20 August, disrupting transport across the five boroughs as severe storms swept through the north-eastern United States. The Associated Press reported no serious injuries in the wider New York storm zone.

The US National Weather Service issued flash-flood warnings for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island as thunderstorms crossed the city. Its warning at 18:13 local time said parts of the area had already received between 0.5 and one inch of rain and faced hourly rates of one to two inches.

Water accumulated on roads and entered several subway stations, footage distributed by Reuters Connect showed. A separate Reuters photograph documented rain leaking into the Penn Station subway complex. New York City Emergency Management had activated the city’s Flash Flood Emergency Plan before the storm and warned residents against entering flooded streets, stations and other low-lying places.

Spectrum News NY1 reported flooded roads in Hollis, Queens, and more than two inches of rain at several measuring points, including 2.31 inches in Central Park and 2.25 inches at LaGuardia Airport. The outlet also reported that LaGuardia temporarily stopped operations and recorded more than 210 cancellations, while John F. Kennedy International Airport recorded 167 cancellations on Thursday.

The disruption again exposed the difficulty of protecting a dense, largely underground transport network when intense rainfall overwhelms street drainage. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2025–2029 capital plan says parts of the subway are vulnerable when the municipal sewer system fills faster than it can carry runoff away. Its resilience programme includes raised entrances, protected vents and pumping equipment.

For travellers connected to Belgium, the immediate relevance is practical rather than political: passengers using New York as a destination or transfer point should confirm flight and ground-transport arrangements directly with their airline and the relevant airport.

City and transit teams are assessing damage and maintaining flood protections ahead of further storms. The main unresolved questions are the final repair cost, the full extent of damage to homes and infrastructure, and whether additional transport interruptions will follow during the continuing unsettled weather.