NYC, N.J. experience flooding, damage due to severe storms

Severe storms caused damage and flooding across New York and New Jersey on Wednesday.

Trees were knocked down, and high waters forced drivers in some areas to turn around.

At the height of the storm, more than 10,000 people were without power. 

Flooding across Brooklyn, Queens

A fast-moving storm flooded neighborhoods across Brooklyn and Queens, forcing drivers and people to wade through roads and sidewalks that looked like rivers.

NYC officials said the storm brought the equivalent of six inches of water per hour in some areas, and the sewer system was built to hand 1.75 inches per hour. 

On Hempstead Avenue in Queens Village, a bus drove through several inches of water.

In Fresh Meadows, one driver said his detour turned into a nightmare.

"Ended up in this swimming pool over here, so this is a bad situation," he said. "I don't know what is going to happen with my car."

Over on Cooper Avenue near 78th Street, police taped off an underpass where two vehicles were trapped under several feet of water.

In a neighborhood near the Forest Park Golf Course, residents say their street became flooded in a matter of minutes.

"It was violent and it was very, very fast," Queens resident Christina Moloon said. "The van almost floated away. It was, like, nuts."

Sonia Moloon says P.S. 87 canceled volleyball practice due to flooding at her school gym.

"The water was up to my ankle and then when a lady came and opened it, the security desk was like flooding," she said.

"I came out. There was water too high for me to even open the doors on the car," Queens resident Joe Conti said.

The Long Island Expressway was closed in both directions at the Cross Island Parkway in Queens late Wednesday due to flooding.

Trees toppled over in Woodhaven, with parts of the neighborhood submerged under several inches of water. 

Downed trees

The storm also knocked down trees from Gravesend, Brooklyn, to Ozone Park, Queens, where a car was damaged.

Clean-up is now underway as residents try to wash away the mud covering their streets.

"I think if we would have gotten rain for a few more minutes, we would have been in big trouble," Christina Moloon said.

In parts of New Jersey, the storm knocked down trees and power lines.