Flash Flood and Flooding in New York, August 13, 2001

On Monday, August 13th, a weak cold front approached southeast New York from the west. In advance of the front, a warm, moist, and very unstable air mass was in place. As a weak sea breeze developed within this air mass, showers and thunderstorms developed. With abundant moisture in place, very heavy rainfall accompanied these thunderstorms, with rainfall rates in excess of 2 inches per hour occurring across portions of northern Queens County and northern Nassau County. In addition, with weak steering winds in place, these showers and thunderstorms moved very slowly, producing highly localized rainfall amounts of 5 inches or more. Consequently, flooding of roadways and highways occurred in highly localized portions of northern Queens and northern Nassau Counties. In northern Queens County, isolated severe flooding occurred along the Cross Island Parkway and Whitestone Expressway, leading to eventual shutdown of these major arterial highways. Victims were stranded in vehicles on these highways and on other local roads in northern Queens. In addition, several health care facilities were flooded, including one area hospital and seven area nursing homes.In Nassau County, heavy rains and flooding washed out several hundred feet of track bed on the Long Island Railroad's Port Jefferson branch, causing derailment of a non-passenger equipment train and stranding thousands of evening rush-hour commuters in Hicksville. The accident was attributed to the overflowing of a recharge basin in Syosset, which created a 15 foot-deep hole under the track bed.In Suffolk County, localized flooding was reported in Huntington. On Main Street, several businesses reported basement flooding as heavy rains, combined with a broken sidewalk, led to the penetration of water into basements. Up to 3 feet of water were reported in some basements.