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SOME TRAIN DELAYS TONIGHT. GOOD EVENING TO YOU. I'M KRISTINE JOHNSON.
NOW, THE WORST OF THIS FLASH FLOODING. IT HAPPENED IN NEW JERSEY. AND THAT IS WHERE GOVERNOR PHIL MURPHY DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY. THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE IN PLAINFIELD, UNION COUNTY, A ROAD LOOKING MORE LIKE A RIVER SURROUNDING HOMES AND CARS. THIS HERE'S THE SCENE IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY. PICTURES SHOW WATER ALMOST UP TO THE WINDOWS OF CARS ON THE SAW MILL RIVER PARKWAY, AND THEN A VERY SIMILAR SITUATION IN ROCKLAND COUNTY, WHICH ALSO SAW DANGEROUS FLOODING CONDITIONS. CARS LINED UP AS WATER STARTING TO RISE ON THE ROAD. THERE YOU CAN SEE TONIGHT WE HAVE TEAM COVERAGE WITH REPORTERS SPREAD OUT ACROSS NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY.
LET'S BEGIN HERE IN STUDIO WITH OUR FIRST ALERT OUR FORECAST. HOW ARE THINGS LOOKING NOW? LONNIE? MUCH BETTER. I WANT TO GET THAT OUT. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THE WORST PART OF THE STORM IS BEHIND US NOW. WE STILL HAVE SOME RAIN OUT THERE. WE STILL HAVE SOME RAIN DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. LOOK, YOU'RE GOING TO STILL HAVE SOME RAIN TOMORROW, BUT IT'S A BETTER DAY THAN WHAT WE DEALT WITH CURRENTLY. THIS ONE AREA, MONMOUTH, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, THAT'S THE ONLY AREA RIGHT NOW THAT HAS A FLASH FLOOD WARNING THAT'S GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. I PREDICT, IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. HEAVIEST RAIN CURRENTLY SOUTHERN PORTION OF OCEAN COUNTY DOWN AROUND STAFFORD, PUSHING OUT TOWARDS LONG BEACH ISLAND. THAT'S WHERE THOSE FLASHES OF RED, WHERE YOU HAVE THE HEAVY RAIN, YOU DID NOT HAVE IT IN OCEAN COUNTY EARLIER. YOU'RE CATCHING IT RIGHT NOW. IT'S BEEN EXTREME FLOODING, TORRENTIAL RAIN, STRANDED CARS ALL OVER THE PLACE. AND WHEN YOU IDEA OF WHERE IT WAS, WHERE IT WASN'T. BASICALLY, TAKE SANDY HOOK, DRAW A LINE OVER TOWARDS FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ANYWHERE NORTH OF THAT LINE. THAT'S WHERE ALL THOSE STORM REPORTS ARE. YOU KNOW, CARS TRAPPED IN RISING WATERS. THERE'S A TREE DOWN WITH STRONG WINDS AND NANUET AND THE AMOUNT OF RAIN. WE PICKED UP BIG NUMBERS, 6 TO 8IN OF RAIN, SPECIFICALLY OCEAN IN UNION COUNTY HAD IT ALSO. WE HAD IT IN ROCKLAND COUNTY. PORTIONS OF WESTCHESTER. BUT NUMBERS ON THE BOARD, THEY SAY ONE THING. PICTURES SAY A WHOLE LOT MORE.
MY COLLEAGUE AND MY MY NEW FRIEND SCOTT PADGETT IS IN THE AR VR STUDIO WITH OUR VIRTUAL WEATHER REPORT. IN TERMS OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE PICTURE AND VIDEO WISE. TAKE IT AWAY, SCOTT. HEY THERE. LONNIE. YEAH. FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY FOR US. WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT VIDEO TO YOU. BUT FIRST WE WANT TO GO AHEAD AND START OUT ELMSFORD. THIS IS UP IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY. TAKE A LOOK RESPONDERS HELPING A PERSON OUT OF THEIR CAR. THEY'RE CLIMBING OVER THE WALL. THAT PERSON STRANDED BY THE FLOODING WATERS TRYING TO SHUT THEIR DOOR A BIT MORE, GETTING THEM OVER THAT BARRIER AS THEY WERE JUST DEALING WITH A FLOODED ROAD. THEIR CAR THEN JUST STALLED OUT. SO A RESCUE THERE. FIRST RESPONDERS, VERY BUSY AS WE WENT EVENTUALLY THAT PERSON GETTING INTO A VEHICLE. THEN LET'S GO OVER HERE STILL IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY. THIS IS ALONG 287. IF WE WANT TO SHOW THAT VIDEO, LOOK AT THROUGH SOME OF THE HEAVIER RAIN CARS TRYING TO NAVIGATE JUST ROADWAYS. THIS IS THE EASTBOUND LANES OF VALHALLA. CARS AND TRUCKS WAITING THROUGH ALL OF THE WATER. SO IT DEFINITELY WAS A DAY TODAY OF FLOODING LIKE THIS ALL OVER THE TRI-STATE AREA. CHRISTINE, YOU HAVE MORE ABOUT THAT. THIS REALLY DAMAGING DAY TODAY. CERTAINLY WAS SCOTT. MASSIVE FLOODING LED TO DRAMATIC RESCUES IN NEW JERSEY. LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT THAT NOW. CBS NEWS NEW YORK WAS FIRST ON THE SCENE AS IT UNFOLDED IN SCOTCH PLAINS. DICK BRENNAN IS THERE LIVE TONIGHT FOR US. AND, DICK, I KNOW YOU SPOKE ONE ON ONE WITH SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE RESCUED. YEAH, AND THE RESCUES WERE UNBELIEVABLE. WAIT'LL YOU SEE THEM. WE CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, THOUGH, THE AUTHORITIES ARE ALL OVER SCOTCH PLAINS, UNION COUNTY. THEY'RE LOOKING IN SUBMERGED VEHICLES, MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE GOT OUT SAFELY. THIS ONE OPENED JUST LIKE FIVE MINUTES AGO. IN THE MEANTIME, PEOPLE HERE SAY THIS IS SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING THEY'VE EVER SEEN. AND YES, THEY'VE SEEN THEIR SHARE OF FLOODS. IN THE MEANTIME, AS YOU MENTIONED TONIGHT, THERE WERE SOME TERRIFYING RESCUES THE RAGING FLOODWATERS RACED THROUGH SCOTCH PLAINS, STRANDING DRIVERS ALL OVER WHO WERE TRAPPED AS THE TIDE GOT HIGHER. AND LOOK WHAT RESCUERS HAD TO DO TO SAVE PEOPLE. THIS MAN PULLED ACROSS FINALLY, TO SAVE GROUND. I WAS DRIVING. I STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. THE WATER WAS RIGHT HERE. IN THE CAR. UP TO THE CAR. SO. AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED? AND THE GUYS, THEY CAME HERE AND RESCUE RESCUED. INTENSE RAINFALL CAUSED THE GREEN BROOK RIVER IN THE WATCHUNG RESERVE TO OVERFLOW. AUTHORITIES HAD TO LAUNCH BOATS INTO THE STREETS. HOW QUICKLY DID THE WATER RISE? REALLY? VERY QUICKLY. MAYBE WITHIN LIKE 15, 20 MINUTES. IT WENT FROM MAYBE JUST A LITTLE STREAM OF WATER, AND THEN IT JUST STARTED FLOODING OVER LIKE A RIVER. YEAH, IT WAS REALLY BAD. HOW SCARY WAS THAT? PRETTY SCARY. TONIGHT. RAFTS MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE STREETS, SCOOPING UP PEOPLE WITH NO WAY OUT. OTHERS WERE BROUGHT IN BY FRONT LOADER. JUST COULDN'T GO ANY FURTHER, SO WE HAD TO GET OUT AND WE TRIED TO GO UP THE ROAD AND WE COULDN'T. SO THEY TOLD US JUST TO STAY THERE, AND THEY CAME AND PICKED ME UP IN A LOADER. JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA HOW INTENSE AND HOW HIGH THESE FLOODWATERS GOT. CHECK THIS OUT. THIS LOG FLOATED IN HERE AND WOUND UP IN THE PARKING LOT OF A QUICK STOP. PEOPLE WHOSE CARS WERE SUBMERGED HAD NO WAY TO GET HOME EXCEPT BY WAY OF THIS GIANT TRUCK, WHICH BECAME A HUGE BUS FOR FOLKS WHO HAD HAD IT WELL UP TO HERE. HOW ARE YOU DOING? WE'RE HANGING IN THERE. HANGING IN THERE? YEAH. ALL GOOD. THESE GUYS RESCUED YOU. THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB. HOW LONG WERE YOU. STUCK? A COUPLE HOURS. WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING STUCK LIKE THAT? IT'S FRUSTRATING. FRUSTRATING? YEAH, IT'S REALLY FRUSTRATING. YEAH. BUT FINALLY YOU'RE GETTING HOME. MAYBE. YEAH. THANKS FOR THESE GUYS. THESE ARE. THEY ARE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB YEAH. LET'S GIVE A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE FIRST RESPONDERS WHO ARE STILL OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING HOME SAFE. AND CHRISTINE. SPEAKING OF GETTING HOME SAFE, A LOT OF THOSE PEOPLE YOU JUST SAW THAT WE INTERVIEWED, THEY'RE LIKELY STILL ON THEIR WAY HOME, EVEN IF THEY LIVE JUST A FEW TOWNS OVER. THAT'S BECAUSE SO MANY ROADS TO GET FROM THERE TO HERE. CHRISTINE, BACK TO YOU. ABSOLUTELY, DICK. AND WE CAN SEE THAT TRAFFIC BEHIND YOU. PROBABLY A LOT OF THOSE FOLKS THAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED FINALLY GETTING HOME IN THEIR CARS TONIGHT. DICK, GREAT WORK OUT THERE. HOPEFULLY, HOPEFULLY. YES, ABSOLUTELY.
WELL, LET'S GO TO OTHER PARTS OF THE TRI-STATE AREA. UNION COUNTY NOW WHERE FLOODING DAMAGED BUSINESSES. THERE. BUT EVEN THE RAIN MOVING IN FAST. PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK TWICE ABOUT HELPING THEIR NEIGHBORS IN NEED. ADI GUAJARDO LIVE IN PLAINFIELD WITH THE LATEST ADDY. HEY THERE CHRISTINE. I'M OUT HERE ON WATCHUNG AVENUE AND I'M GOING TO STEP OUT OF THE WAY SO YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT IT WHERE I'VE SEEN SEVERAL PEOPLE OUT HERE WAITING IN WAIST DEEP WATER. AND IF YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER BACK, YOU SEE AT LEAST THREE CARS COMPLETELY STALLED OUT IN SEVERAL FEET OF RAIN. THIS IS A SCENE THAT PLAYED OUT IN OTHER PARTS OF NEW JERSEY AS WELL. TORRENTIAL RAIN TRIGGERED FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ACROSS PARTS OF NEW JERSEY. THE RAPID RAINFALL FLOODED STREETS, STALLED OUT CARS AND SENT CREWS SCRAMBLING TO SHUT DOWN ROADS. IN PLAINFIELD, HEAVY RAIN TURNED STREETS INTO RIVERS, RUSHING PAST HOMES AND KNOCKING DOWN TREES. I'VE NEVER SEEN FLOODING LIKE THIS. I'VE NEVER SEEN PROSPECT IN WATCHUNG ABSOLUTELY FLOODED LIKE THIS. MICHAEL VARGAS SAYS. THE DIRECTIONS ON HIS PHONE LED HIM TO A FLOODED STREET WHERE HE WAS TRAPPED FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR. IT WAS ALL THE WAY UP, ALL THE WAY UP HERE. SO JUST SAT THERE. I'M SURE THE CAR, I MEAN, THERE'S NOTHING I COULD DO WITH THIS. IT'S RUINED. SO TIME FOR A NEW CAR. IN A TIME OF NEED. SOME JUMPED INTO ACTION TO HELP OTHERS. IT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING, PLAINFIELD. TRY TO HELP A NEIGHBOR OUT ALONG THE WAY. IN ROSELLE PARK, RAIN FLOODED SEVERAL BUSINESSES ON CHESTNUT STREET. PROBABLY ABOUT SIX INCHES TO A FOOT. INSIDE THE RESTAURANT. RUSSELL OLDEN, ONE OF THE OWNERS OF DOWLING'S IRISH PUB AND RESTAURANT, SAYS HE RUSHED OVER AS SOON AS HE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE FLOODING. IT'S NOT JUST MY BUSINESS, IT'S NOT JUST MY EMPLOYEES. IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S EVERYBODY DOWN IN THIS AREA. THE WATER COMES IN, IT COMES IN QUICK AND THERE'S REALLY NO TIME TO REACT TO IT. AS THE WATER RECEDES. IN SOME AREAS, THE CLEANUP EFFORTS ARE IT'S DISHEARTENING. YOU KNOW, IT'S IT'S NOT THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD, BUT WE'RE RESILIENT. WE'RE STRONG. OH, NO. NEVER MIND. NO. NOW, RUSSELL TELLS ME THE LAST TIME HIS RESTAURANT FLOODED WAS DURING HURRICANE IDA. SO HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO NEXT. AND THAT'S BRINGING IN PROFESSIONAL TO HELP TO ASSESS THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER THAT ENDED UP GETTING VARGAS OUT OF THIS FLOODED STREET, AND HE TOLD ME IT HAS BEEN A VERY BUSY NIGHT GUAJARDO CBS NEWS, NEW YORK. EDDIE. THANK YOU.
LET'S GO TO MIDDLESEX COUNTY NOW WHERE YOU CAN SEE FLOODING ON THE STREETS AND ALSO THE SIDEWALKS. MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WATER IN MCCUTCHEON. THESE SIMILAR SCENES PLAYING OUT ACROSS THE AREA TODAY, INCLUDING WESTCHESTER COUNTY. DRIVERS ACTUALLY HAD TO ABANDON THEIR CARS THAT WERE TRAPPED IN THE WATER. FIRST RESPONDERS ALSO RESCUING PEOPLE TRAPPED ON THE SAW MILL RIVER PARKWAY. LET'S GO CONTINUE OUR TEAM COVERAGE FROM MOBILE TWO. SHE'S BEEN MONITORING THE CONDITIONS IN ELMSFORD TONIGHT. JENNA YEAH. CHRISTINE, WE'VE BEEN DRIVING INTO MANY FLOODED AND CLOSED ROADS. IT'S BEEN REALLY DIFFICULT TO GET AROUND. YOU CAN SEE HERE THIS IS SAWMILL RIVER ROAD, AND IT IS IMPASSABLE. A THE ROAD. AND THEN AS WE TURN THE CAR OVER TO NEIGHBORING PAYNE STREET, THAT'S ALSO FLOODED. AND AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, FIRST RESPONDERS. EMERGENCY CREWS RESCUE A DRIVER STUCK ON A FLOODED SAW MILL RIVER PARKWAY IN ELMSFORD, HELPING THEM OUT OF THEIR CAR, WALKING THROUGH KNEE DEEP WATER TO SAFETY. A DIFFERENT VANTAGE POINT FROM THE METRO-NORTH TRACKS IN HAWTHORNE, WHERE A COMMUTER CAPTURED CARS STUCK ON THE PARKWAY. IT'S AMONG MANY ROADS CLOSED IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY MONDAY NIGHT AS HEAVY RAIN HIT THE AREA. AS WE WERE DRIVING IN MOBILE TWO ON SAW MILL RIVER ROAD, WE CAME ACROSS LAMONT STREET, TAKEN OVER BY FLOOD WATERS. YOU COULD SEE DEBRIS FLOATING AND CARS PARKED BEHIND NAPA AUTO PARTS SUBMERGED. A SIMILAR SCENE ON NEARBY STREETS IN ELMSFORD, WHERE DRIVERS GOT STUCK. WE SPOKE WITH THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE, WHO SAYS THE COUNTY RECEIVED NUMEROUS 911 CALLS. THE WATER CAME UP VERY, VERY QUICKLY. IT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WAS JUST A GRADUAL MOVE UP, BUT CERTAINLY IN SOME OF OUR MORE PRONE AREAS LIKE THE BRONX RIVER PARKWAY RIGHT THERE ON MAIN STREET, WHICH TRADITIONALLY FLOODS WHEN IT RAINS REALLY HARD. AGAIN, IN THOSE CASES, THOSE FOLKS ARE BEING RESCUED BY LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICES PERSONNEL, MOSTLY THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS. FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE BEEN BUSY RESPONDING TO MORE THAN FLOODING THE VALHALLA AND ELMSFORD FIRE DEPARTMENTS WORKED TO PUT OUT A CAR FIRE ON GRASSLANDS ROAD, TELLING US, THANKFULLY, THE DRIVER IS OKAY. AND BRING YOU BACK OUT HERE LIVE. GIVEN THIS IS WHAT SOME ROADS STILL LOOK LIKE AT THIS HOUR, KEEP IN MIND IT COULD BE A TOUGH MORNING COMMUTE, SO BE LIVE IN ELMSFORD, WESTCHESTER COUNTY. JENNA DEANGELIS, CBS NEWS, NEW YORK.