Emergency declared as heavy New York flooding kills 1

City authorities have issued a warning and directed residents to move to the higher grounds as devastating flash floods in New York City’s Hudson Valley badly affected, with Democrat State Senator James Skoufis reporting one death in the town of Highlands Sunday.

Senator also said that efforts were ongoing to determine whether there were more casualties, as “vital infrastructure and homes were washed away.”

In some cases, he added, entire roads were not just impassable from the flooding but “completely destroyed.”

The flooding was also reported by the nearby US Army Garrison at West Point with roads washed-out.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said: Orange County and Rockland County received 5 to 8 inches of rain, advising people to stay at home.

Terming the floods "life-threatening," Governor Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency for Orange and Ontario counties late Sunday. Nearly 13,000 residents were without power because of the storms in Orange County, she stated.

"Torrential downpours" were likely to bring flash flooding to Manhattan and the Bronx, the NWS said.

The last such flooding occurred from the remaining Hurricane Ida in 2021 and killed 44 people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, 16 of them in New York City. Poor drainage systems and improper infrastructure were the main cause of the flood vulnerability.

The weather also affected the travel services with US Train service Amtrak saying it temporarily halted services between New York City and Albany, while Newark and LaGuardia airports reported disruptions in flight operations.

"If you do not need to be on the road, stay off the road. We have a number of emergencies," Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus warned residents in a Facebook update from the Highland Falls area in the southern part of the county.

Several roads were inundated and mudslides were reported by the emergency services office of the town of Cornwall, also in Orange County. “Travel is impossible,” the office said on Facebook.

Steven Nevel, a spokesman for the New York State Police said: "State troopers were helping stranded motorists on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Rockland County." He also reported a "terrible" situation, with roads crumbling.

Images released by the police showed vehicles submerged in water on the highway and roads damaged.

Hochul told local reporters that the state was possibly staring at back-to-back days of flooding.

“My biggest concern,” she said, “is the fact that most people’s lives that are lost during a flood event occur because they’re in their vehicles — not in their homes, but in their vehicles.”

Flash flood threats could spread Monday to Vermont, the National Weather Service said Sunday.

Gov. Phil Scott (R) declared a state of emergency in Vermont on Sunday, in anticipation of the storms and possible flooding.