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So, about last night...
Tropical Storm Elsa dumped about 1.56 inches of rain in an hour, sending New Yorkers fleeing inside for cover...but some of them had to get places, and those people? They had to do the unthinkable.
Videos surfaced not long after the rain began pouring of people wading through murky, waist-deep water at the 157th Street 1 line subway station. We can only imagine how it felt to go through the most definitely polluted floodwaters. All of New York watched in horror and shared feelings of disgust and shock over the amount of water flooding the station but also the sheer willpower and determination of those going through it to get to their trains.
Some subway system ya got there. This is the 157th St. 1 line right now. @NYCMayor @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/xyfTAUPPNu
— Paullee 🤠 (@PaulleeWR) July 8, 2021
And…an attempt. pic.twitter.com/VHk3Rnv6zd
— Paullee 🤠 (@PaulleeWR) July 8, 2021
On Twitter, locals were freaking out:
"How badly could you want to get the train?" one incredulous watcher asked.
"Flooding in New York looking like a horror movie," another noted.
"No destination is important enough to make me wade through flooded NYC subway water," someone else said.
"I’d eat a glass sandwich before I walk thru subway water," another announced.
It's clear the subway system wasn't created or even updated to keep up with this amount of water. Other stations experienced horrific flooding that made the commute home just intolerable:
What in the actual fuck 🤷🏻♀️😂😂😂
— LittleMissHorrorNerd 🗽💙 (@MissHorrorNerd) July 8, 2021
NYC subway currently 😳 pic.twitter.com/DPj2LI7t8T
How’s your summer going? ⛈ pic.twitter.com/HJENycDyqb
— Douglas Stuart (@Doug_D_Stuart) July 8, 2021
@MTA How is this acceptable?
— Fiona (@fiona79us) July 8, 2021
Orange line inside 42nd street stop pic.twitter.com/KVsLcFJdIo
Flooding in #NYC pic.twitter.com/ajfwdARitd
— Lars❄️🇳🇴(New account) (@aflyguynew1) July 8, 2021
Rain flooding the platform at spring street on the @mta 6 line... #mta #nyc #Elsa pic.twitter.com/9jzqQcMaz0
— ISSA KHARI (@IssaKhari) July 8, 2021
"Drains are working remarkably well," Tweeted Sarah Feinberg, the interim president of New York City Transit.
According to The New York Times, Feinberg said the flooding of stations happened because underground drains were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the rain, so vents and stairways served as conduits for the water and street-level flooding spillied over curbs and down into the subway.
But the new mayor-elect, Eric Adams said it was unacceptable and again mentioned the need for congestion pricing to boost the MTA's coffers and fix the flooding situation at stations.
"This is what happens when the MTA makes bad spending decisions for decades. We need congestion pricing $ ASAP to protect stations from street flooding, elevate entrances and add green infrastructure to absorb flash storm runoff. This cannot be New York.”
Unfortunately, the subway wasn't the only thing flooding—areas of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx saw rivers of water take over their streets and sidewalks, making them impassable and downright scary.
DYCKMAN IN SHAMBLES RIGHT NOW 😩 pic.twitter.com/VYWqudsbpw
— JACKSON AKA STYLEZ (@2random2predict) July 8, 2021
Major Flooding in The Bronx, NYC pic.twitter.com/2zja3UciQn
— Headline-Hunter 🚨 Alerts 🤯 (@freehumanity911) July 8, 2021
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Someone's apartment building even got flooded. What do you even do in that circumstance, when every inch of your building is under water?
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It's not over just yet, either. NYC is still under a flash flood watch until noon today.