Storm Elsa: Passengers filmed wading through waist-high dirty water to get on New York subway after floods

Dramatic flooding swept across New York City on Thursday as heavy thunderstorms ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa disrupted the city’s subway, forcing passengers to wade through waist-high dirty water to get to their trains.

Flash floods and heavy downpours also led to the suspension of trains and the closure of the subway in some places.

Videos posted on social media showed the impact of the heavy rain, as a passenger at the 157th Street subway station in Washington Heights could be seen paddling through the trash-filled water to catch a train.

In another video, a subway rider was seen stepping into a trash bag to walk through the water and reach the platform.

At another station, the water appeared to be pouring onto the platform and tracks via the stairs.

“Crews are actively addressing flooding issues in our stations. We’ve hardened stations in coastal flooding zones, but when streets above flood, water will always flow downhill,” said the Metropolitan Transit Agency, warning the passengers against entering inundated stations.

“Drains are working remarkably well,” tweeted Sarah Feinberg, the interim president of New York City Transit. She added that the crew is “working hard and fast and doing great work. Give them room to work and be safe.”

Ms Feinberg attributed the water-logging at the station to a variety of factors. These include the underground drains being overwhelmed from the heavy downpour, vents and stairways turning to a passage for the watercourse and flooding from the street spilling down the subway, she was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Videos showed similar chaos on the streets as the waterlogging also led to the shut down of Major Degan Expressway in the Bronx. Police used a barrier truck to rescue stranded motorists after their vehicle got caught in the rapidly rising water levels.

Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to attack those lawmakers who prioritised the filibuster over the Green New Deal by sharing a video of the city reeling from the torrential downpour.

“‘The Green New Deal, which is a blueprint to create millions of good jobs rebuilding infrastructure to stem climate change & protect vulnerable communities, is unrealistic,’” Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, quoting imagined critics of the proposal to combat the climate crisis. “‘Instead we will do the adult thing, which is take orders from fossil fuel execs & make you swim to work.’ (sic)”

She appeared to have made the comments in reference to a recent New York Times report, according to which a senior Exxon lobbyist said in a leaked video that the company attempted to weaken president Joe Biden’s climate agenda by fighting them through “shadow groups”.

With Tropical Storm Elsa expected to hit the city on Friday, state senator Mike Gianaris also issued a warning. “This is only going to get worse as Elsa passes through,” he tweeted. “Please be safe and don’t go out unless absolutely necessary.”

According to the bulletin from the National Weather Service, Elsa is moving through eastern North Carolina and will continue to bring tropical storm force winds and heavy rainfall to portions of the Mid-Atlantic in the night and parts of the Northeast into Friday.