Storm shatters New York City, while Central Park records highest rainfall in over 100 years

On Thursday (Oct 30), New York City has been experienced torrential rain and has been reeling from extensive flooding. The storm drenched the city with record rainfall. The highest rainfall in more than 100 years was recorded in Central Park. LaGuardia and Newark airports also broke previous records. Flooded streets were a common sight coupled with gusty winds, the phenomenon brought down trees in the surrounding areas. The storm has claimed at least two lives in Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan. The bodies of two men were found in a flooded basement.

The body of a 39-year-old man was recovered by a scuba team after firefighters received a call of a person trapped in the flooded basement of a three-storey townhouse in Brooklyn, as reported by news outlet KSBY. Three major airports in the city have also been impacted due to the heavy downpour. Preliminary reports mentioned 45.7 mm of rainfall, exceeding its record of 41.7mm, which was set in 1917.

"We all know that climate change has brought us these crazy rainstorms that our infrastructure was never designed to deal with. The four most intense storms in New York City's history have taken place in the last four years. Yesterday, what caused all the flooding is the fact that we had 1 inch of rain in 10 minutes," explained DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwall as quoted in news outlet CBS.