On October 30, a severe storm struck the northeastern United States, including the states of New York, New Jersey, and neighboring regions. Rain fell in sheets, and gusty winds intensified the destructive consequences.
The city of New York was hit especially hard: the rain poured down suddenly. In some areas, up to one inch of precipitation fell in an hour, while in Central Park, one and eighty-three hundredths inches fell during the day, setting a record for this date in the past one hundred years.
The city’s drainage system could not cope: streets, basements, and subway stations were flooded.
In Brooklyn and Manhattan, two people died, trapped in basements that the swift flow of rainwater turned into deadly traps.
New York emergency services received over eight hundred calls about flooding within a few hours. Crews cleared storm drains of leaves and debris, but water repeatedly clogged the system, causing new floods.
Transportation was paralyzed. The subway was partially shut down. Three major airports in the New York region were severely affected, resulting in the cancellation of more than one thousand two hundred flights.
Around fifteen thousand homes were left without electricity.
Heavy rains also occurred in neighboring areas. On Long Island, about two and six tenths inches of precipitation fell, and in northern New Jersey, levels reached almost three and sixty-four hundredths inches in some places. Winds in the state were so strong that they tore two barges from their moorings and threw them ashore.
Philadelphia was also affected: during the storm, a tree fell on a car, killing the driver.
Experts note that such unusually powerful downpours were caused by a combination of a local cyclone and moist air brought from the Caribbean by Hurricane Melissa.
The storm confirmed the obvious: extreme weather events are intensifying, and many cities and residents are unprepared.
In this context, particular interest is drawn to the video message “Why Turbulence Is on the Rise? Egon Cholakian on Atmospheric Anomalies and Nanoplastic Pollution,” in which a representative of the international scientific group ALLATRA shared the findings of more than thirty years of research on atmospheric anomalies, space and geodynamic processes, and nanoplastic accumulation, as well as proposed specific measures to slow down the climate crisis.