Torrential Rains Flood Brooklyn Streets, Leaving One Dead

by Olivia Seaman, Brooklyn Paper

Torrential rain battered Brooklyn on Thursday, flooding streets, submerging cars and leaving at least one person dead as parts of the borough saw nearly three inches of rainfall in just three hours.

The city remained under a wind advisory until noon Friday, as cleanup efforts continued across the five boroughs.

In East Flatbush, the FDBY Scuba Team recovered the body of a 39-year-old man from a flooded basement. According to ABC7, he was found “unconscious and unresponsive” and was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A similar fatal incident occurred in Washington Heights.

Neighbors told Brooklyn Paper he had been trying to rescue his two dogs when floodwaters rushed into the basement apartment. They said he managed to get one dog, Luna, out before he was overwhelmed while returning for the second pet.

The Scuba Team used a dewatering pump, among other equipment, to reach the victim, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not yet been released by authorities.

Nearby neighborhoods, including Ditmas Park, also saw severe flooding, with water filling intersections and basements. In a statement posted to Instagram, Council Member Rita Joseph said she was “deeply saddened” upon hearing of the flood-related death in her district.

She also called for better flood infrastructure citywide.

“Now more than ever, we must be vigilant and reaffirm the call for additional resources and infrastructural investments in our neighborhoods,” she said.

Further north, near the Gowanus Canal — one of Brooklyn’s most flood-prone areas — cars were left half-submerged and pedestrians stranded as rising waters stirred contamination in the canal, a designated federal Superfund site.

In South Brooklyn, Council Member Justin Brannan said city agencies were responding to multiple intersections “inundated with storm water.”

“Yesterday’s forecast called for 1.5 to 2 inches of rain over an eight-hour span between 2-10 p.m. Instead, that rain fell within the span of 10 minutes,” Brannan wrote in a Facebook post.

“New York City’s sewer system, designed to handle up to 1-1.5 inches of rain per hour, can be overwhelmed by rainfall of today’s intensity,” his statement read. “DEP received nearly 1,000 calls to 311 about flooding between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. In most cases, flooding receded soon after the most intense rainfall — between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. in much of the city — slowed down. DEP has 38 crews and 19 supervisors responding to locations across the city.”

Before the storm, NYC Emergency Management and Mayor Eric Adams said they were working closely with the National Weather Service to “monitor a low-pressure system forecast.”

“New Yorkers know how to handle tough weather, and we will get through Thursday’s storm the same way we always do: together and prepared,” Adams said. “Our teams across the city are ready to respond.”

As of 9 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service recorded as much as 2.79 inches of rain in Sheepshead Bay, 1.82 inches in Prospect Park, 1.79 inches in Dyker Heights, and an average of about two inches across the borough.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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