At least one person has been killed and millions are under flood watches as parts of the northeastern United States were hit with severe rain and heavy flooding over the weekend.
More than 13 million Americans were under flood watches and warnings from eastern New York state to Boston and western Maine to the northeast, the National Weather Service (NWS) said in its forecast Monday, with Vermont the most at risk.
Flood watches will also remain in place until at least Tuesday afternoon for parts of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Connecticut, according to NWS.
In parts of Vermont, which is currently under a state of emergency, flooding surpassed what was experienced during Tropical Storm Irene, according to Gov. Phil Scott. As of Monday morning, more than 10 people had been rescued from the floods, according to the governor.
Later on Monday, Vermont’s Emergency Management team said it had rescued 19 people on boats and evacuated 25 others, as well as pets, amid rising water levels.
Two areas in the state—Weston and South Londonderry—are currently inaccessible owing to flooding, officials said, while dozens of roads throughout the state have been closed over the dangerous conditions.
Woman Swept Away in New York
So far, no injuries or deaths related to the flooding in Vermont have been reported, according to state emergency officials.President Joe Biden, who is currently visiting Vilnius, Lithuania, approved Vermont’s emergency declaration early Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the White House.
In New York, a 43-year-old woman identified by police as Pamela Nugent was killed while trying to escape flooding at her home in Orange County—about 65 miles north of New York City—according to authorities.
Ms. Nugent was attempting to leave her home with her dog when she was swept away by rapid waters, officials said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency in Orange County on July 9 after the area experienced “life-threatening conditions” owing to the heavy rainfall and flash flooding.
That state of emergency was expanded on Sunday to Ontario owing to “increasingly dangerous conditions,” according to Ms. Hochul’s office.
More Rainfall Ahead
Elsewhere on Monday, more than 1,000 flights to and from airports across the region, including New York’s LaGuardia and Boston’s Logan, were delayed or canceled owing to heavy rains.Railroad company Amtrak also suspended its passenger train service between the state capital Albany and New York City after flooding damaged tracks.
NWS late Monday said the slow-moving storm system will likely head northeastward overnight Monday before exiting the region on Tuesday.
“Before then, however, additional slow-moving showers capable of containing intense rainfall rates are expected to dump a few additional inches of rainfall over parts of northern Vermont and far northeast New York,” NWS said.
“As a result, dangerous flooding in these areas are forecast to continue or worsen throughout the night, with impacts turning from flash flooding to main-stem river flooding,” the weather service said. “A High Risk (level 4/4) of Excessive Rainfall remains in effect for much of Vermont, highlighting the potential for catastrophic flooding that has not been seen in this part of the country since 2011. It is imperative to never drive across flooded roadways, as most flood-related deaths occur within vehicles.”
According to a preliminary evaluation by AccuWeather, the weekend flooding caused damages and economic loss of around $3 billion to $5 billion, although the full extent of the damages is yet to be assessed by officials.
