As Gov. Kathy Hochul discussed Sunday’s flash flood warning in parts of the city — just days after catastrophic flooding in areas of the Hudson Valley — she described the recent severe weather patterns as “possibly our new normal.” 

“This is the kind of weather that even what should normally be a beautiful [beach] Sunday in July can turn into a devastating catastrophe because of Mother Nature,” Hochul said.

What You Need To Know

  • At a press conference about Sunday’s flash flood warnings, Hochul said recent severe weather “is possibly our new normal”

  • The city largely avoided the flash floods that caused catastrophic damage in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere in recent days

  • While the city has spent billions on stormwater infrastructure, its aging sewage and stormwater systems are not equipped to handle severe flash flooding

While the city avoided the worst of the flooding in recent days, a sequence of extreme storms two years ago — including the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which left more than a dozen people dead — awakened the city to the dangers of flooding from above, not just coastal flooding of the kind seen during Hurricane Sandy.

Maps based on city data show that neighborhoods throughout the city, not just in coastal areas, are susceptible to stormwater flooding of a foot or greater.

And the city’s aging infrastructure, particularly its stormwater and sewage systems, aren’t built to keep up with severe rainfall.

“If we were to make our infrastructure, our stormwater infrastructure, able to accommodate what we just saw of six inches in 45 minutes, we would have to tear up every city street,” said Rob Freudenberg, vice president for energy and environment at the Regional Plan Association.

The city has spent billions of dollars on resiliency measures, including a massive upgrade to the sewage system in southeast Queens, and is investing in so-called green infrastructure, which captures rainwater before it flows into street drains.

“To handle it to where it’s not going to affect anybody, it’s going to cost hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars,” said Robert Giordano. “And who’s got that money?”

The city is also seeking to empower New Yorkers, offering individual homeowners inflatable barriers.

“It’s a real challenge to address flash flooding,” Freudenberg said. “And so what the city is doing is trying to improve its notification system, to let people know where the flood is. It’s using sensors to try and find where it’s occurring.”

That notification system could soon include the use of drones that make public-address announcements, something the NYPD conducted testing on this weekend.

In Red Hook, hit hard by Sandy but also susceptible to flash flooding, longtime local residents see the water as a constant threat.

“Even the streets itself I think have to be elevated or something, because the puddles just stay for weeks and weeks. And driving through them is very dangerous,” said Dan Haskell.