Watch | Flash floods in New York leave streets, cars submerged in water

The streets of New York have turned into raging waterways due to catastrophic floods, with videos on social media showing vehicles submerged in floodwaters and roads inundated.

Considering the situation, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued an "exceedingly rare" flash flood emergency for different parts of New York. The weather department issues the rare warning only when "extremely" heavy rain leads to a severe threat to human life and flash floods carry the risk of "catastrophic damage", said the NWS on its website.

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The heavy rain, which continued for hours, led to "life-threatening flash flooding" across New York's Hudson Valley region on Sunday. Twitter users in Rockland and Orange counties posted videos and photos of the aftermath of the severe weather.

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State of emergency

Governor Kathy Hochul, along with New York State Police (NYSP), appealed to people to remain at home in the wake of the flood-like situation. A state of emergency was announced by New York Governor Hochul for Orange County on Sunday night, stating that the community saw “life-threatening flooding” in just a few hours as the electricity of 13,000 homes was knocked out by the storm.

She stated that search and rescue efforts are being conducted by the emergency responders in a few places.

NYSP public information officer Steven Nevel, while speaking to Newsweek in an email on Sunday, said that state police have been asking people to avoid the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Rockland County because of heavy flooding.

"There are numerous motorists stranded in Rockland County," said Nevel, while speaking to Newsweek. "State Police along with local fire departments and EMS personnel are utilising personal and equipment to assist this motorist and get them to safety as fast as possible,” he added.

Just after 5 pm local time, NYSP shared a post to Twitter and Facebook warning drivers of "heavy flooding and washouts."

In New Zealand, National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research's meteorologist Ben Noll shared an image taken near West Point which showed almost full underwater on a flooded street near the academy.

"Current scene in West Point, New York / #HudsonValley The radar estimates that over 10 inches of rain fell today, nearly the amount that typically falls over an entire summer! There's more rain to come...," said Noll on Twitter just before 7 pm.

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Shocking photos and videos of floodwater filled in areas near West Point were shared by dozens of Twitter users. Twitter user MAJMikeLyons posted a photo of vehicles which were completely submerged in water near the military academy.

"This is Thayer road at @WestPoint_USMA. Unbelievable. Find high ground," tweeted MAJMikeLyons.

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