Commuters impacted by severe weather in Queens as Clearview Expressway, LIRR tracks flood

Severe weather and flooding impacted Thursday evening’s commute around the New York City area.

Earlier Thursday afternoon, the potential for severe storms and flash flooding prompted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency in several counties. Parts of Queens seemed to get the worst of it.

MTA Chairman & CEO Janno Lieber and LIRR President Rob Free provided an update on the impacts to mass transit Friday morning.

“What we’ve experienced is the challenge of having really old infrastructure and being subject to the water that comes from all over, down onto tracks and hitting the subway and commuter rail system,” Lieber said. “So we’ve got to fix that. We have to work with our partners in municipalities, especially the City of New York, to keep the water out so we don’t have these impacts on transit.”

At least 3 vehicles stuck in flooding on Clearview Expressway

As heavy rain pelted the borough Thursday afternoon, the Clearview Expressway was soon submerged.

“The weather got really nasty really fast,” Auburndale resident Zach Lintz said.

At least three vehicles got stuck on the thoroughfare, including a tractor trailer. Video showed one driver sitting on the roof of his car like a raft stranded in muddy waters.

“Couple guys got stuck, you know. They couldn’t go forward or backward, and the water just kept rising,” Lintz said.

“I was worried about the people inside. I was hoping they were gonna get out,” Auburndale resident Brie Taveras said.

First responders were able to rescue everyone from their vehicles without any reported injuries.

Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry said the truck driver told them he got stuck trying to slowly drive through the flood.

“It was almost like a monsoon. There was just so much significant rainfall in a short amount of time,” Daughtry said.

The floodwaters were quick to rise and quick to fall. Crews have since cleared out the catch basins along the expressway, allowing the water to drain and traffic to resume.

Flooding blocks LIRR’s Port Washington line near Bayside station

Nearby in Bayside, parked cars nearly disappeared under rising water. One man left a note on his car saying it wouldn’t start and that he would be back the next day to get it.

The water was so fast-moving, it soaked the carpet of the public library on Northern Boulevard.

The FDNY had to rescue commuters trapped in an LIRR train.

“I walked to the front and saw all the water almost up to the platform,” one rider said.

Flooding blocked the Port Washington line just shy of the Bayside station. Passengers say the power turned off and all they could do was wait out the storm.

“After it got into the second hour, I’m like, I’m now getting hot. I’m getting sweaty. I’m claustrophobic,” another passenger said.

Free said Friday morning service was back on track for the day after some earlier delays. 

“The water was up to the platform here at Bayside and just east of Bayside, as you go to Great Neck, there was another flooding condition,” he said. “I just want to emphasize, as well, that our system is resilient. It’s constructed in a way that can accommodate water that emulates and accumulates on our property. But when you introduce storm runoff water from the surrounding areas — thousands of gallons rushing onto our property — it cannot keep up with it.”

After the storm mostly subsided Thursday night, the NYPD and FDNY went to some of the low-lying areas in Queens to check on residents in basement apartments.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol said crews also cleaned up a minor landslide on the Cross Island Parkway. 

“Still a lot of work going on around the city, but no one area that has been hardest hit or that’s requiring more cleanup than others,” he told CBS News New York early Friday morning.