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The remnants of Hurricane Ida barreled by New York Metropolis 5 years in the past, dumping unprecedented quantities of rain on town and leading to 13 New Yorkers’ deaths. The storm, which served as a wake-up name concerning the security dangers of maximum rain, nonetheless looms massive as we speak, having marked a shift in how metropolis officers and residents acknowledged inland flooding as an pressing drawback.
“Ida is exactly the day we stopped primarily worrying about coastal flooding and began worrying about stormwater,” stated Rohit Aggarwala, town’s former chief local weather officer and environmental safety commissioner.
Ida was town’s deadliest since 2012’s Superstorm Sandy. A lot of the New Yorkers who died drowned of their basement residences in Queens, and greater than 100 households have been displaced from their properties.
Within the time since, metropolis authorities has improved the way in which it communicates with residents about potential flooding, expanded efforts to deal with huge portions of water across the boroughs and taken steps towards making basement residences safer. Native communities have additionally performed a job in getting ready for and responding to deluges, which have hit New York repeatedly since Ida, together with a number of this summer time.
However the concrete jungle is much from reworking right into a sponge. “There’s been lots of progress, however there’s all the time extra to do,” stated Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
‘Ought to We Even Go Out?’
New Yorkers have lately grow to be conversant in the results of maximum rain. Manhole covers pop; water gurgles up by sewer grates or jumps a curb and spills into home windows and doorways; sewer backups result in water and human waste popping out of bathrooms and bathtub taps; vacationers traverse speeding water on streets and dodge waterfalls in subway stations.
Sam Wu, a house owner in Flushing’s Kissena Park, stated he misplaced two automobiles to flooding after heavy rains throughout Ida and once more this summer time, and needed to intestine and exchange every little thing on the primary ground of his residence after the 2021 storm. He’s lived in the home for 20 years, however stated the flooding on the block has gotten extra frequent since Ida.
“Each time we simply hear a few heavy rainstorm coming, we’re all simply sort of mentally ready to do no matter we are able to,” Wu stated. “You take a look at the climate, and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s a heavy rain this afternoon. Ought to we even exit? Ought to we exit to Lengthy Island with the children or not? Or ought to we go to Brooklyn?’ No, no, we’re not as a result of we’re going to be someplace shut the place we are able to run again in case one thing occurs.”
Excessive bursts of rain problem town’s capability to deal with huge quantities of water, since most of its sewer system has a capability of lower than two inches of rain per hour. Ida dumped greater than three inches of rain an hour on the storm’s peak, with greater than seven inches whole in elements of town, setting a file.
“There’s an amazing distinction between getting three inches of rain over a 24-hour interval versus getting three inches of rain over a one- or two-hour interval,” stated Daniel Bader, a meteorologist and senior employees affiliate on the Columbia Local weather Faculty. “Whenever you’re getting this magnitude of water over a brief period of time, there are going to be vital impacts.”
The deluges are anticipated to grow to be extra widespread and intense resulting from local weather change. Hotter air holds extra moisture, which implies rains can get heavier.
‘You Want To Be Ready All over the place’
Ida accelerated stormwater administration practices and preparedness, which had largely taken a backseat to coastal flooding.
“You possibly can’t defend in opposition to [stormwater flooding] in the way in which you’ll be able to with a coastal storm,” stated Rob Freudenberg, vice chairman of the nonprofit Regional Plan Affiliation’s power and environmental applications. “It requires lots of little interventions.”
The unpredictability of the place a rainstorm will hit means “you’ll want to be ready all over the place, which is an virtually unimaginable ask,” he added.
Throughout rainstorms, the extent of flooding and ensuing harm can fluctuate by block, primarily based on a bunch of things. These embrace topography, whether or not catch basins are stuffed with particles, and the kind of surrounding atmosphere.
Ryan White, who runs Brooklyn knife-sharpening enterprise Greenpoint Knives, grew to become considerably of an area hero when he went viral in July as he stepped into floodwaters close to McCarren Park and used a brush to clear a catch basin. The water, which had pooled right into a lake and began coming into his truck, swirled down the drain and receded.
White stated he knew to do this as a result of for a number of months earlier than the storm, he’d seen metropolis employees clearing out the drains utilizing vacuum-like vans and knew there was new mulch round close by bushes.
“You’ve gotten [the city] doing all the appropriate issues, nevertheless it was a mixture of this rain and this flash flood and all that mulch that that they had not too long ago planted had moved right down to the drain and have been simply protecting the drains,” White stated. “I used to be like, ‘OK, effectively I’m simply gonna go sweep off this drain.’”
Attendees at a Might occasion in Chinatown for the resiliency initiative Rainproof NYC watched by home windows because the clouds opened up, with a half-inch of rain falling in 5 minutes. Some individuals chuckled and murmured it all the time appeared to rain throughout Rainproof occasions.
Amy Chester, director of the nonprofit Rebuild by Design, which convenes Rainproof, stated it wasn’t till later, when she obtained residence and scrolled by social media, that it dawned on her how dangerous the storm was in sure neighborhoods. Part of low-lying Hollis, Queens, recorded greater than 46 inches of floodwater, in response to flood sensor information.
“The humorous factor about rainfall is that even inside New York Metropolis, it will get concentrated in fully totally different areas, after which that space sees influence, after which that exams the system of that particular space,” Chester stated.
Making NYC a Rain Sponge
Work has been ongoing since Ida to show town into a spot that may deal with big quantities of water — although there’s an extended solution to go.
The native Division of Environmental Safety in 2024 estimated it could value $30 billion over three many years to considerably enhance resiliency in areas of town most weak to flooding from heavy rains.
The division has upgraded 50 miles of sewers throughout town since Ida and plans to speculate $9 billion over a decade for additional upgrades, together with alongside Bushwick’s Knickerbocker Avenue. The company may also change out greater than 6,700 catch basins to enhance drainage and exchange its total catch basin-cleaning vans within the subsequent three years.
Past these initiatives, town is advancing efforts to sort out flooding utilizing nature-based options and different insurance policies, corresponding to attainable buyouts in flood-prone neighborhoods, as The Metropolis Reporter not too long ago documented.
Among the initiatives are already accomplished, together with a scaling up of Staten Island’s bluebelt system (which conveys water utilizing pure channels), a accomplished basketball courtroom “cloudburst” mission on the New York Metropolis Housing Authority’s South Jamaica Homes that may drain massive quantities of water, the set up of just about seven miles of pavement that absorbs water in Borough Park and greater than 3,000 curbside rain gardens and underground tanks on public land.
There are extra cloudburst initiatives, bluebelts and miles of porous pavement installations within the works throughout the boroughs. Tyler Taba, director of coverage and authorities affairs on the nonprofit Waterfront Alliance, stated these initiatives are a superb begin however have taken form slowly, with many nonetheless within the planning phases.
“We need to see extra of those initiatives actually expanded out,” Taba stated. “Wanting again 5 years, have we reimagined our infrastructure in the way in which that we needed to [reduce flooding]? I don’t know.”
Emergency Notifications and ‘Alert Fatigue’
Among the metropolis’s most intense storms since Ida occurred on each Sept. 29, 2023 and July 14, 2025, when greater than two inches of rain fell per hour. On Oct. 30, 2025, an inch of rain fell in 10 minutes.
Town Emergency Administration company pays sure teams to amplify preparedness messaging and has additionally refined its alert system and communications. Underneath former Mayor Eric Adams, drones flew over properties to warn residents heavy rain was imminent. Town has deserted that particular strategy however continues honing messages and methods, officers stated.
Two males died in flooded basements almost a 12 months in the past, marking the primary time since Ida that deaths occurred from flooding throughout excessive rain. In response, Emergency Administration added language in its messaging that directs New Yorkers to get out and keep out of flooded basements.
“We needed to make clear that [directive],” stated Tyler Roosa, the company’s director of public warning.
Rainfall is difficult to foretell, and generally official NotifyNYC alerts — to which about 1.6 million individuals are subscribed — warning of heavy rain find yourself falling flat.
“Alert fatigue, it’s one thing we’re battling continually,” Roosa stated. “We nonetheless have to arrange individuals for the worst.”
He stated the company nonetheless hasn’t used wi-fi emergency alerts to all cellphones — corresponding to for dire blizzard situations or hurricanes — to warn about attainable lethal flooding, and received’t accomplish that besides in essentially the most dire circumstances, primarily based on rain observations and avenue flooding experiences.
Grassroots Local weather Preparation
Folks all through town are more and more taking motion once they know rain is on the horizon, typically spurred by town’s alerts.
“When it begins to rain tremendous, tremendous, tremendous exhausting, I do know we now have 10 minutes to behave earlier than the deluge comes,” stated Shari Name, who owns Easy Loaf Bakehouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn. “All of the water from Park Slope above us and perhaps from the park comes pouring down Second Avenue, after which it makes a left-hand flip onto Fifth Avenue and heads on to the entrance of the bakery.”
She stated she’s misplaced hundreds of {dollars}’ value of substances and gross sales due to flooding, and not too long ago invested $4,500 in boundaries to forestall water from coming into the shop.
Repeated flooding additionally provides one other dimension to the housing and affordability crises for renters and property homeowners alike.
Janice Jiggetts, a retired house owner in St. Albans, Queens, is aware of that actuality effectively. Her residence flooded with black water for the primary time throughout Ida, and has carried out so a number of occasions since.
“I needed to pay for cleanup, my boiler restore. I couldn’t do any main repairs in the home as a result of I couldn’t afford it,” she stated, estimating she spent no less than $4,000 after she was flooded in September. “I’ve to tug again on every little thing, after which it’s important to use bank cards.”
Jiggetts stated she hasn’t carried out something to service her boiler or correctly cope with mildew after being flooded in Might as a result of she will be able to’t but afford to.
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