NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2007

Heavy Rains Wallop NYC, Cripple Transit

At Least 1 Death Blamed On Storms That Flooded Subways And Forced Long Flight Delays

  • Play CBS Video Video Summer Scorcher USA

    Dave Price looks at the effects of a heat wave that has pushed the mercury into the triple digits across many parts of the U.S. South and Midwest.

    • Frustrated commuters try to flag down cars outside a closed subway station in the Queens borough of New York early Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.

      Frustrated commuters try to flag down cars outside a closed subway station in the Queens borough of New York early Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.  (AP)

    • Commuters on the Upper West Side of Manhattan wait in a stalled subway and on the platform during the morning rush hour Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007

      Commuters on the Upper West Side of Manhattan wait in a stalled subway and on the platform during the morning rush hour Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007  (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

    • A portion of the sidewalk rises out of the ground following a storm in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.

      A portion of the sidewalk rises out of the ground following a storm in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007.  (AP Photo/Benny Snyder)

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  • Photo Essay Summer Scorcher

    As temperatures soar around the world, everyone's looking for ways to keep cool.

(CBS/AP)  Torrential rain blamed for at least one death flooded subways and rail lines and delayed flights early Wednesday at New York's three major airports and thousands of commuters were stranded for two hours or more.

The thunderstorms prompted brief tornado warnings and flash flood warnings before giving way to a sunny, humid day. Wind and heavy rain toppled trees onto cars and streets, caused scattered power outages and left some shops shuttered and businesses struggling with shortages of workers.

A woman whose car got stuck in an underpass was killed when her car was struck by another one from behind, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

The National Weather Service was sending an investigator to Brooklyn to determine if a tornado had struck, meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said.

The early morning storms also forced CBS' The Early Show to switch studios.

Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith said the rain was "coming down like buckets and basically flooded our control room. Things are shorting out all over the place. It was chaos."

Hannah Storm Blogs: Our Morning Mad Scramble
All subway lines in the city experienced delays or diversions, and some rail lines to Grand Central Terminal and some rail routes from New Jersey into Manhattan were shut down for more than an hour.

Straphangers were advised to find alternate means of transportation, which effectively stranded thousands on their way to work with no other option but to head home or wait out the suspensions, reports WCBS-TV in New York.

"We have been advising customers to avoid the system if possible because there is extensive flooding on the tracks," NYC Transit spokeswoman Marisa Baldel said.

Passengers on one train to Grand Central were told they had to get off at a station in the Bronx and walk to a nearby subway station. Some trudged through the streets in their drenched business suits, only to be told at the subway that those trains weren't running either.

There were delays of up to an hour and a half at John F. Kennedy International Airport and about an hour at LaGuardia International Airport due to the storms, said Alan Hicks, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Elsewhere around the country, four inches of rain fell in an hour in some areas in south-central and southeastern Nebraska. Authorities in Surprise reported the Big Blue River had overflowed its banks and fish were swimming on the water flowing on state Highway 12.

More flood warnings were issued Wednesday in northern Illinois, where flooding forced dozens to evacuate their homes a day earlier. The water-logged region already had been declared a state disaster area.

The rainstorms set up an exceptionally steamy afternoon in New York. The weather service issued a heat advisory that warned of temperatures that could climb to 101 because of the muggy weather.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 16 Comments
by juwboy August 10, 2007 7:42 AM EDT
retmilspouse:

Birds actually have higher body temperatures than mammals as a result of PRODUCING THEIR OWN HEAT.

Why don't you spend some time studying basic zoology instead of wasting ours with your ignorant opinions?
Reply to this comment
by retmilspouse August 10, 2007 1:31 AM EDT
george2221 said:

"Mammals are UNIQUE in that they can produce their own heat".

Worrabout BIRDS?

Posted by juwboy at 09:58 AM : Aug 09, 2007

Hey juwboy,
Did you attend a institution of higher learning, also known as a school? Mammals are warm blooded animals that usually give a live birth to their young/offspring. I don't think birds fall into that catagory. Of course there are some exceptions but the above statement pretty much sums up a mammal.
Reply to this comment
by darkangelina August 9, 2007 5:38 PM EDT
You may read as you will, however there is more more to be read from words than just the words themselves...Try not to see the incident yet the circumstances surrounding it....Why has led to it...
i ask you if any body in NY was expecting that? ironically since there was an article in July's issue of Scientific American that spoke about how flooding of NY subways would begin the destruction of Manhattam within 2 - 4 days....
Seemingly a hurricane would do just that to NY, it would make Katrina look small...However it is those in New Orleans that are preparing and in Florida mainly.... This is where the expecting of a hurricane will occur, thus the next major one is not likey to hit these areas but those that least expect it? Why? I have no clue... They for the second year have 'overestimated' the number of storms... we are triny with so much effort to predict in an unpredictable world... The best thing to predict in ones own outcome in their journeys here....

http://theunknowncandidate.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html




Reply to this comment
by juwboy August 9, 2007 12:58 PM EDT
george2221 said:

"Mammals are UNIQUE in that they can produce their own heat".

Worrabout BIRDS?



Reply to this comment
by cmp271 August 8, 2007 7:32 PM EDT
I suggest you all look up a good prophesy website, it will tell you what is going on.

NYC will be underwater after a good hurricaine comes through, there is no where for the water to go.

Get used to it, move away!
Reply to this comment
by michellem99-2009 August 8, 2007 7:09 PM EDT
As a legally blind home user I am one for one wanting to learn and share if my name is their so what. I took newspaper class years ago. This was pre computer. Maybe I don't understand where snideglass may be coming from but he/she makes us think.
snideglass put yer paw down as they will tell ye if yer need to raise yer right paw to take an oath that is if ye be Ammerican.
They could send that rain to help put out them fires that Mum nature so badly need.
Reply to this comment
by retmilspouse August 8, 2007 6:13 PM EDT
Does anyone "get" snidegrass at all? Anyone?
Posted by crystalblue3 at 01:44 PM : Aug 08, 2007

Just folks who like to type in anything to get a rise out of the folks on this site. For no reason other than to see their name and words on a page. Really sad individuals.
Reply to this comment
by michellem99-2009 August 8, 2007 5:36 PM EDT
snideglass, Dear, yer raise yer paw to be in the armed forces, and some jobs in the nanny govt. Dear yer don't raise yer paw to drive mass transit . Now when the flag and Her music is played.yer put yer right paw over yer heart. I am a 52 year old hillybilly. Understand as you must you be schooled here.
Subway can't run in bad flood.Not safe.
Reply to this comment
by hawksprings August 8, 2007 5:25 PM EDT

From what I've been seeing this summer, Global Warming means more rain in addition to more heat, so we're going to have a really Green Planet before long!!

Global Warming will be wonderful, you'll see! The Tropical Zone will stretch all the way up to Maine!!!! Woo Hoo!!

...
Reply to this comment
by jdubs63 August 8, 2007 4:56 PM EDT
All of us are enduring weather changes no matter where we live. I guess the best thing to do is just prepare for anything because anything is possible
Reply to this comment
by crystalblue3 August 8, 2007 4:44 PM EDT
Does anyone "get" snidegrass at all? Anyone?
Reply to this comment
by my2centss August 8, 2007 4:18 PM EDT
If a little rain cripples NY, New Orleans' Katrina is nothing compared to a hurricane in NY. Better get ready for that, and leave the small stuff alone NY.
Reply to this comment
by retmilspouse August 8, 2007 3:15 PM EDT
Comments like these are from people who have no life outside of typing useless comments on a computer all day. These folks are the ones we hear about who are at work and for about 2 hours a day are goofing off and not doing anything productive.
Reply to this comment
by retmilspouse August 8, 2007 3:12 PM EDT
What a pathetic looser.
Reply to this comment
by lsurules August 8, 2007 3:10 PM EDT
So I guess this too is Bush's fault?
Reply to this comment
by tnt1954 August 8, 2007 2:24 PM EDT
adversity maketh the man-anthony adverse.
by the way, i was wondering how many
people in the usa are sworn to uphold the constitution and protect our country against
all enemies foreign and domestic. a vow taken
in govt. employment with right hand raised.
Reply to this comment
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