Since the roads were inaccessible due to the heavy rain, a flash flood emergency was declared in four counties.
On Sunday, the Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties received a flash flood warning from the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services due to persistent downpours that washed away roads and resulted in at least one fatality, according to authorities.
Orange County seemed to have been the most impacted. On Sunday night, County Executive Steve Neuhaus described the situation as "an absolute war zone" over the phone from the community of Highland Falls near West Point, which is located along the Hudson River. Emergency response teams were unable to quickly react to calls due to flooded roads. That evening, he said, rescuers had discovered a young girl's remains.
"It's a tough situation — lots of people are trying to fight their way in to help us," he added, adding that State Police, the Orange County sheriff's office and the state Department of Transportation were all present or on route to the area.
The damage was "massive," according to Neuhaus. He expected that it would take months to complete the repairs and that many of the damaged homes in Highland Falls would be demolished.
Fast-falling rain produced flash flooding throughout the lower and middle Hudson Valley, but mainly in Orange, Rockland, and Putnam counties. Some roads were closed and collapsed, and emergency water rescue calls were made as a result. As of 9:20 p.m., rainfall totals of over 4 inches were shown on certain real-time weather maps. Weather radar indicated that an estimated 10 inches of rain fell at West Point on Sunday, which is about as much rain as generally falls over an entire summer, according to meteorologist Ben Noll.
Although the entire extent of the devastation was not immediately apparent, the rain looked to have severely damaged the transportation system. Several Facebook sites saw social media messages claiming that Route 6 had collapsed in certain places and that Route 9W was closed due to water, which caused traffic to back up. A washout on the rails also caused Amtrak to cancel its Empire Service train between New York City and Albany.
According to Cornwall-on-Hudson resident Rosemary Willkomm, her home suffered "utter destruction" as a result of the water.
"It tore down our barriers. In our basement, which extended all the way to our den, there was six inches of water, she told the Times Union. It seriously damaged our entire property.
The National Weather Service declared the flash flooding in Orange and Putnam counties to be life-threatening around 5 p.m. and shared a tweet from the Cornwall Office of Emergency Management, which issued a no-travel advisory, citing numerous flooded roadways, stranded vehicles, water rescues, and hazards such as mudslides, trees, and debris.
Putnam County police in Carmel, Indiana, uploaded a video on Facebook depicting washed-out highways, warning of major flooding on multiple routes, including Route 6.
On Sunday night, Neuhaus announced a state of emergency in Orange County and prohibited all non-emergency automobile and pedestrian transportation from the town of Highland until at least 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
Gov. Kathy Hochul told News12 Hudson Valley that the next 24 to 48 hours will be difficult as storms moved across the area.
"Orange is the epicentre right now, but it's moving, heading north," Hochul cautioned, asking people to heed severe weather warnings.
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