Massive sinkhole opens up in Bronx on day of torrential rain in Tri-State Area
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NEW YORK -- From the roads to the rails, storms brought the Monday evening rush to a standstill.
Making matters even worse for one neighborhood in the Bronx, CBS2's camera caught the moment a van fell into a sinkhole.
The worst of the weather may be over, but the city still has a lot of cleaning up to do. The sinkhole in Morris Park is at least the length of three cars, and swallowed up a whole van.
The Department of Environmental Protection told CBS2 it cannot say definitively if the sinkhole's formation was weather related, but it started sinking during the storm and it continued to get worse.
It goes without saying it was a wet one Monday. Subway commuters had to wade through the flooding platforms as waterfalls of dirty water rained down.
The ride home wasn't much better from a car standpoint, either. Drivers continue to deal with floods and street closures all through Upper Manhattan into the Bronx.
SUVs were making waves as they made their way through inundated sections of the Bronx River Parkway.
Traffic was backed up on the Major Deegan Expressway as flooding closed down several lanes and water was flowing over sidewalks and side streets from the Highbridge section over to Hunts Point, where water nearly filled the entire avenue.
After the rain cleared, there was still quite a mess left over.
In Morris Park, neighbors watched the massive sinkhole on Radcliffe Avenue get bigger and bigger until the it swallowed up Tony Papadodoulos parked van.
"I'm alright. I'm alright. Lose the van. Lose the van. It's life," he said.
The DEP and Con Edison have been onsite here investigating what exactly happened, but neighbors told Bauman this is the second sinkhole on the block in less than a year.
"It happened Aug. 15 and it took them three months for them to fix the work and we didn't have water. Now, we're gonna have no water, of course," Joey Saadah said.
Again, nobody was injured in Morris Park, but the water is still off for the neighborhood. The DEP it's also investigating if the sinkhole has anything to do with the one that formed in the same area last year.
Get the latest updates on the Red Alert storms below.
MTA bus takes on water
Cellphone video captured scary moments on an MTA bus.
Passengers screamed as the bus passed through flood waters.
A wave crashed several feet high into the windshield, then water flooded the floors inside.
Busy cleanup ahead
Latest power outage numbers across Tri-State Area
Various utilities are reporting outages due to Monday's storms.
As of 10:25 p.m.:
Con Edison (NYC/Westchester) -- 420 Customers
PSEG (Long Island) -- 304
PSE&G (New Jersey) -- 1,144
Rockland & Orange -- 12,787
JCP&L (New Jersey) -- 4,274
Cars submerged in several New Jersey communities
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Flooding in New Jersey on Monday stopped cars in their tracks, stranding some drivers.
On Lodi Street in Hackensack, CBS2's Alice Gainer watched car after car drive through flooded streets. Some had to be towed.
Even a postal truck continued to drive through flood waters, despite other cars getting stuck.
Some people were forced to wade through the water and whatever was floating around in it.
Gainer spoke to a manager at a nearby warehouse which, fortunately, sells inflatable rafts.
"We used them to take everyone out," Gabriel Rivas said.
Downpours drenched northern New Jersey on Monday afternoon and evening.
A bolt of lightning struck a home in Woodcliff Lake.
Over in Fair Lawn, more cars were underwater. Tow trucks were in high demand.
In Englewood, drivers continued to plow through the water.
At a Fort Lee gas station, there was heavy pooling.
In Paterson, flash flooding ruined cars near Saint Joseph's University Medical Center.
One man told CBS2 he lost a car to flooding on 20th Avenue, the second time he says its happened there.
"When I came out, the whole street was consumed. You can see the flood line right here, you know, so it was all the way up to the window, consumed all the seats. That's why it's sounding right now," the man said of his car alarm.
One neighbor showed Gainer the trash floating around in the street during and after the deluge.
"What made things worse is the fact that our recycling didn't get picked up," Martha Arencibia said.
In many of the areas Gainer checked out, people said it typically floods, so there were no surprises. It served as a reminder that when you get those flash flood alerts on your phone, take them seriously.
Lonnie's 5 p.m. First Alert Weather update
Metro-North's Harlem, New Haven lines restore service
Service along Metro-North's Harlem line was restored after being disrupted earlier. Officials said there were delays of up to 70 minutes.
The New Haven line was resuming service as well.
Flooding under the 1 train line in Inwood
Twitter user TiMichel85 shot this video of flood waters under the 1 train by Nagle and Academy in Inwood.
Area power outages as of 4 p.m.
As of 4 p.m., there were the following power outages in our area:
- PSEG - 2,633 customers
- JCPL - 2,709
- PSEG LI - 121
- Con Ed - 1,736
Northern New Jersey deals with deluge, home hit by lightning
FAIR LAWN, N.J. -- Monday's storms caused problems across the Tri-State Area.
As CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported, flash flooding left people stranded in parts of northern New Jersey.
Rain poured down over and flashers were on along 287. Some pulled over to wait it out. Low zones flooded and the previously dry rocks of the Ramapo mountains became the perfect backdrop for cascading waterfalls. Flash-flood warnings fired.
"It was unbelievable. I've never seen it that bad," Fair Lawn resident Frank Smith said. "The rain was coming down so hard you couldn't even move. Then the water backed all the way up to my backyard and started coming up to the guardrail."
The guardrail lining 208 East in Fair Lawn. Three men pushed one car killed by floodwaters out of the way. Kenneth Gerena's Honda fell prey, too.
"I was just driving here and I got ... I like went straight into water," said Gerena, of Clifton. "My car just completely stopped."
It was stuck until the tow truck showed up. Traffic eventually started moving again.
Ali Speraga said she watched the water rise in front of her Fair Lawn home, worried her car would get swallowed whole.
Before all this, a home in Woodcliff Lake fell victim to the intensity of the storms. Char marks were seen up the side of the home -- a piece of it projected across the street -- and a nearby tree had its bark blown off from a lightning bolt carrying 300 million volts of electricity. The Sumpers shared that at around 8:30 a.m. they watched lightning flash and heard thunder roar. It made their toddler nervous. Melanie Sumper said she tried to comfort him.
"Telling him it was OK, just a normal thunder and lightning storm," Brian Sumper said. "Right when she said that, boom, it hit the house."
"I just heard a loud bang. I grabbed my 2-year-old and was like, 'Oh my God. Oh my God,'" Melanie Sumper said.
"Shook the whole house and made the loudest pop you could ever hear," Brian added.
Appliances got fried, an electrical panel, too. The family was shaken, but unharmed.
Metro North service suspended on 2 lines
Damage from the powerful storm disrupted service on two Metro North lines.
The Harlem and New Haven lines were temporarily suspended into and out of Grand Central Terminal.
Metro North urged commuters to delay traveling.
For more status information from Metro North, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE to get the latest forecast.
See it: Flood waters swamp cars in Fair Lawn
Dramatic video showed flooding swamping cars in Fair Lawn, N.J.
Fast-rising flood waters swamped at least five cars.
Fair Lawn police say no one was injured, however.
Dina Shoshana of Fair Lawn posted a picture of first responders using inflatable rafts to rescue people.
"All my life I've never seen it like this," she wrote.
Flooding impacting area roads, rails
Westchester Police said the Bronx River Parkway was shut down between the Sprain Split in Yonkers to County Center in White Plains.
Meanwhile, Twitter user @Mollyblob posted a video of conditions on the Major Deegan, writing "Welcome to the Major Deegan river."
The New York City subway shut down service on the A train between 168th Street and 207th Street due to flooding on the tracks.
Lonnie's 3:30 p.m. update
Storm clouds over NYC
Twitter user Kathy Clark took a video of the storm clouds as they moved into New York City.
Flash flood warning for parts of our area until 4:30 p.m.
A flash flood warning was in effect until 4:30 p.m. for the following areas:
- Southern Fairfield County
- Southeastern Bergen County
- The Bronx
- Manhattan
- Southern Westchester County
CLICK HERE to get the latest forecast.
Severe thunderstorm warning in parts of our area until 3:30 p.m.
Severe thunderstorm warnings with heavy rain, lightning, and flash flood risks took effect in much of Bergen County. The cell is moving towards Westchester & Fairfield County in Conn. next.
Other areas under a severe thunderstorm warning:
Hudson County, southeastern Bergen County, northeastern Essex County, southern Westchester County, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan.
CLICK HERE to get the latest forecast.
Severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 10 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for much of our area until 10 p.m.
Top concerns are straight-line, damaging winds that could exceed 60 mph, as well as the possibility of an isolated tornado or two.
CLICK HERE to get the latest forecast.
Home struck by lightning in Bergen County
Homeowners Brian and Melanie Sumper seemed to have the worst of it so far. Their home in Woodcliff Lake took a direct hit from a bolt of lightning carrying 300 million volts of electricity.
The Sumpers said lighting flashed and thunder roared starting at around 8:30 a.m. The couple consoled their toddler during the storm.
Read more about their story by CLICKING HERE.
Updated morning forecast
Alert: Red Alert today for strong to severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Yellow Alert on Wednesday for feels like temps in the upper 90s to near 100. Yellow Alert on Thursday for feels like temps around 100 and potentially some strong thunderstorms.
Forecast: A few [mainly] non-severe thunderstorms will push through our northern/northwest suburbs this morning. These storms will be capable of producing downpours (localized flooding) and even some small hail. Then we'll catch a break around midday with another round of showers/thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. These storms will likely be strong to severe and capable of producing downpours (flooding), locally damaging winds and even an isolated tornado. Things quiet down late this evening and overnight, but it will remain muggy. As for tomorrow, it will be far less active, but it will be a hot, humid day with feels like temps in the low 90s.
Looking Ahead: Wednesday will be hot and humid with feels like temps in the upper 90s to near 100. Thursday will be hot and humid, as well, with feels like temps around 100 with afternoon thunderstorms possible. The heat persists on Friday with highs in the low 90s.
Much needed rain
As CBS2's Elise Finch reported Monday, our rainfall deficit sits at 2.57 inches since June 1.
That's even after Saturday's rainfall that brought 1.10 inches.
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