Tornado alert: Reports of damage across New Jersey after afternoon warnings | NBC New York

[00:00:00]Tornado warnings have since expired, but we have damage reports coming in. They are piling up. There is a potential for more severe weather in the hours ahead.

[00:00:07]We have team coverage of the storms, a team of reporters fanned out giving us a look at the areas that have been hit so far. We're going to start though with News 4's Janice Huff, who has been tracking the storm and has where we where we stand right now, Janice.

[00:00:19]>> Well, we want to show you, Randa, just how large the expanse of all of this is.

[00:00:23]It's not just in the tri-state. It stretches all the way back down to DC and into the Ohio Valley, where they're seeing numerous warnings for flash flooding, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes into Ohio and Kentucky. Here at home, we don't have as many warnings in effect as earlier, but we still have them. Flash flood warnings mainly and a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings as well. We'll zoom in closer here towards Edison and around our radar site at Rutgers University. There is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect right now until 5:45 for communities around Edison, Middletown, and Woodbridge for wind damage, 60 mph winds. And even though we don't see any rotation right now, a tornado could be possible with this as it rolls off to the northeast at 25 mph toward Highland Park, Edison, Sayreville at 5:06, Perth Amboy, Lawrence Harbor, Aberdeen at 5:21, and then Keansburg. Then out across Long Island, we have a flash flood warning in effect that extends into Nassau County, but it's also for Queens, Suffolk County, the and the Bronx until 7:30 this evening. And if you think that you're done down the Jersey Shore, no doubt, there's also severe weather to your west around Philadelphia headed towards the Jersey Shore in the next couple of hours. Dave Price has more on the damage reports from around the tri-state today.

[00:01:40]>> All right, Janice. Let's talk about the damage reports focused on the area where we have a current flash flood warning in effect. So, stretching all the way back to New Jersey, throughout Long Island, into Westchester and Connecticut. So, let's go and take a look at the damage reports, which are now coming in fast and furiously. This is over the past 12 hours or so. We'll zoom on in right now.

[00:02:05]And if you take a look, photos of water flooding in and up into homes in Fairfield County this afternoon. Old Greenwich, multiple roads closed. If we look back to Elmsford and head on into sections of Westchester, road closures on the Bronx River Parkway, both directions at exit 22, 119, Route 100, all the usual suspects and beyond. And as we advance our way west, these two are so interesting. Back into Stanhope, train spotter witnessed a tornado touching down at the intersection of 80 and 206, and then all the way over to Troy Hills at 243. Video sent in of a tornado on the ground from driving range. That is quite a journey for a tornado, and we're still putting the pieces together and verifying, but plenty of damage, and the evening is young. We'll have much more for you as team coverage continues. Rhina, back to you.

[00:03:07]>> Okay, Dave, thank you. We want to show you one of the videos that we're getting. Some incredible video. This is New Jersey, shows what appears to be a funnel cloud. This was in Pinebrook just before 3:00 this afternoon on Chapin Road, just south of Route 46. You can see, again, what appears to be a funnel cloud. Cloud looks like it's rotating as it moves across the area. The National Weather Service will work to confirm whether, in fact, this was a tornado that touched down.

[00:03:31]>> And then, take a look at this time-lapse video from the top of the rock here in Midtown. You can see the storm clouds, they move in, and that's when the rain just blankets the camera, and you can't really see anything after that. And then, I want you to see this video of what it looked like driving down Route 10 in New Jersey in Morris County. You can see the rain, of course, has made this a very slick and dangerous commute.

[00:03:56]Right now, though, let's go out to Westchester County. News 12's Linda Vaccaro is there live in White Plains.

[00:04:01]How's it been for you in White Plains, Linda?

[00:04:04]>> Well, Adam, I have to tell you what, an hour ago we went through a very rough lightning and thunderstorm. Very severe.

[00:04:11]We actually had to take cover because we saw the lightning coming down quite quickly and near us. Right now, we seem to be in between storms, which is a good thing, but another one's coming. And the Bronx River Parkway, as you see right behind me, closed here at the County Center in White Plains. There's also a flash flood warning in Westchester and a tornado watch until 9:00 p.m. Many areas impacted by today's storms. There were downpours throughout Westchester. The heavy rains looking like a waterfall over the side of this building in White Plains. Vehicles on Tarrytown Road bravely tried to navigate flooded streets. The drains were just overloaded. The National Weather Service declared a flood watch for Westchester County until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. And the periods of rain all day have been heavy, as many as much as 1 to 2 inches an hour. A long stretch of the Bronx River Parkway ordered closed late this morning from 287 in the north all the way down to Scarsdale. And in Greenburgh, parts of Tarrytown Road and Route 100 shut down. And we spotted a couple of vehicles that appeared to be stuck there. Westchester County encouraging residents to stay indoors if you can and avoid hitting the road. And unfortunately, we do see these this in so many storms. Do not attempt to drive through flooded streets or past barricades. Otherwise, you could end up getting stuck. If you are driving, keep an eye eye out for potential trouble spots on flood-prone roadways like the Bronx River Parkway, the Saw Mill, and the Sprain Brook as this driver found out.

[00:05:41]>> Think of the roads in Westchester.

[00:05:42]>> They suck, especially Melbourne and Gedney.

[00:05:45]Glen Avenue, Dale Avenue suck. I've been trying to get the mayor to fix some streets for a long time.

[00:05:51]Don't do it.

[00:05:57]>> And we just got this alert that the Mount Pleasant police says part of the Grasslands Road is closed in Valhalla because of a partial road collapse. The weather also affecting schools. So, if you're taking a night class at Westchester Count Community College, they are closed as of late this afternoon. And again, the stretch of the Bronx River Parkway closed and it seems like it will be the case for quite some time. That's the latest live in White Plains. I'm Linda Bacarro, News 4 New York. Back to you.

[00:06:23]>> Okay, host of issues there, Linda. Thank you. And the sheer amount of rain that fell in some areas in such a short time led to scenes like this. The driver of this car, you can see appear to stall out in floodwaters. This was in Hackensack, New Jersey. This is the corner of Temple Avenue and Main Street in Hackensack. You see the driver there, he actually had to crawl out of the window and then walk away through those waters. Thankfully, it doesn't appear that he was hurt. We'll want to head now uh not too far from Hackensack, also in Bergen County to Saddle Brook, New Jersey where we have uh News 4 Sarah Wallace standing by. And Sarah, we understand flash flooding an issue there as well.

[00:07:01]>> Absolutely, Ranna and Adam. You know, it's so interesting. We were in Lodi a short time ago, about an hour ago, Linda talking about the weather in Westchester. Well, in Lodi, it was just coming down in sheets. The thunder and lightning so bad. We also had to take cover. Then we made our way down Route 46 and ended up here in Saddle Brook.

[00:07:20]And I just want to show you the contrast, okay? Right now, you can see that this street is clear, but just 10 minutes ago, I'm kidding you not, it was literally submerged in water. This is the kind of thing that we're talking about. The flash flooding that is just coming through these areas. You see the water and then all of a sudden a few minutes later, it has just receded. So, this is what we're dealing with and again, you know, our weather people talking about listening to the warnings because we've seen it. We have just seen how the weather is coming in and out.

[00:07:52]Right now, we're actually seeing some blue sky. It's lightening up a little bit, but I wouldn't take that for granted because we know that there could be more storms coming up and uh later on in the evening. So, again, you know, just be very careful if you are out. We're seeing a lot of very slow traffic, a lot of people taking their time, but the best advice if you can is just to stay off these roads. Let the first responders do their jobs. For now, live in Saddle Brook, Sarah Wallace, News 4 New York.

[00:08:20]>> Okay, Sarah, thank you so much. We want to head now to New York City. We have Andrew Siff in downtown Brooklyn with concerns over basements basement apartments that could flood in situations like this. Andrew.

[00:08:35]>> That's exactly right, Rana. I had an opportunity to speak with New York City's Commissioner of Emergency Management one-on-one just a short time ago. They are monitoring tonight's storms. At last check, what they were looking at is the range between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and the potential for extremely heavy rain and the possibility of flash flooding. Here's some of what the Commissioner had to say when we talked to her about that threat.

[00:09:01]What worries you the most when we are in a flash flood alert?

[00:09:05]>> Uh really what worries us the most is basement apartments.

[00:09:09]Um just you know, we saw um luckily we haven't seen anything super serious. Um there were there was a basement apartment rescue on Saturday.

[00:09:18]Uh you know, the fire department was there, but um you know, we all know what happened during Hurricane Ida. The city has been working on that. It is a complex issue um and but you know, when I think flash flooding, that's really the most important thing is the life safety.

[00:09:32]>> One thing I've noticed since that time and I believe it was 13 dead in Hurricane Ida in in basement apartments.

[00:09:38]I've noticed that the city is much more urgent about saying flash flooding, flash flooding, right?

[00:09:43]>> Yeah, for sure. And we right here with our Notify NYC folks, we have a basement alert group, which we encourage everyone who's in a basement apartment or who has, you know, messaging going out to basement apartments. And those if you're in the basement apartment group for Notify, you actually get calls because we know texts, you know, aren't going to wake you up in the middle of the night.

[00:10:04]>> Yep, that's the protocol. They actually have a team of people to call you if you live in a basement apartment because it is that serious when there's a potential for severe flash flooding and you're essentially underground. Now, also underground, the subway system. And coming up at 6:00, you'll hear from the MTA chairman. They've got pumps out all over the city because you all seen what happens when it rains torrentially.

[00:10:27]Sometimes that water ends up in the subway system. Find out more about what they're doing to prevent that tonight.

[00:10:33]We're live in Brooklyn, Andrew Siff, East 20 New York.

[00:10:35]>> Okay, looking forward to that, Andrew.

[00:10:36]Thank you. Let's check in on the airports. This weather wreaking havoc all across the tri-state at airports with delays and cancellations. Adam Harding's live at Newark Airport. How are things there now, Adam?

[00:10:50]>> Uh not good, Coop. Uh certainly we're dealing with that severe weather. Though Newark hasn't really had too much rain, but it's really the rain and other cities that is really impacting travel.

[00:11:00]We're just looking at the FAA's website right now and they're talking about delays upwards of 3 hours. Flights at one point had a difficult time of ground stop trying to even get into Newark. So certainly this weather is causing mayhem for anyone who had a flight. And some passengers tell us they may be stranded here until Thursday.

[00:11:19]>> Fresh off his karate competition and black belt promotion in Toms River, Johnny Biondo and his wife Marcelle are just trying to get home to sunny California. Unfortunately, they currently find themselves in rainy New Jersey and their flight's been canceled.

[00:11:34]>> And I'm just bombed. I've traveled everywhere. I have never been stranded.

[00:11:39]We can't get a flight home till Thursday at 6:00 a.m.

[00:11:42]>> Maybe something will come through tomorrow.

[00:11:45]Uh we're going to call early tomorrow about 5:00 a.m.

[00:11:48]>> Praying for a miracle.

[00:11:49]>> a miracle and see if we can book something, you know, before Thursday.

[00:11:52]>> The big board at Newark Liberty lit up with delays and cancellations as the tri-state braces for severe weather.

[00:11:59]Parts of Jersey already flooding out with thunderstorms and the potential for a tornado in the forecast.

[00:12:06]>> Uh looks like we're delayed uh a few hours. Got uh notification on my way up here, so I guess I'm just hanging out at the airport for a little while.

[00:12:13]>> Grace Brandon traveled here to work the FIFA World Cup. She's now scrambling to get back to Texas. In fact, she shouldn't even be on this side of the Hudson. She was supposed to fly out of New York this morning, but Mother Nature forced her to adjust her itinerary.

[00:12:28]>> Canceled.

[00:12:30]They automatically booked me on a flight on Thursday.

[00:12:33]I said no good. So, I'm trying to get on a United flight.

[00:12:37]>> Do we Are we confident that we'll be able to get on?

[00:12:40]>> I'm hopeful. I haven't heard from my travel agent yet, so I hope so. But I see it's already delayed, so I'm hoping that it's just delayed in time for me to get on it.

[00:12:53]>> Well, we certainly hope she's able to make that flight though. Adam and Rana, that confidence may be waning as more delays and cancellations pile up. The weather is certainly something that we're going to have to be dealing with at least for the next few hours. And of course, anytime we talk about severe weather and we talk about traveling, remember it's not just where we are right now. It's also where you're trying to go to. So, that is also creating those ripple effects. At its peak, there were hundreds of delays and cancellations. The airport behind us here is quiet right now. I'm looking outside the window. It's not raining right now in Newark, but if you have to fly out in any of our local airports, do yourself a favor, call and check ahead with your airlines before heading to the airport. There's a good chance you might not be able to get out tonight. We're live at Newark Liberty. I'm Adam Harding, News 4 New York.

[00:13:39]>> Okay, and with more storms coming, it could complicate things further. Adam, thank you. We want to take you right now live back to Hackensack. We showed you images from the scene a little bit earlier where a car got stuck in floodwaters there. Now you can see that car is being towed away. Again, this is live in Hackensack, the corner of Temple Avenue and Main Street. The driver of that vehicle, as we showed you earlier, had to crawl out of the window after he got stuck in those waters. He walked away through that water, no injuries reported there, but the car being towed from the scene.