By Brendan O’Brien, Rich McKay
(Reuters) -Torrential downpours pounded the U.S. Northeast on Monday, threatening catastrophic flooding across the region, where rains have washed out roadways, overwhelmed rivers, forced numerous rescues by boat and caused at least one fatality, officials said.
Some 13 million Americans were under flood watches and warnings issued from Eastern New York state to Boston and Western Maine to the northeast, where as much as 7 inches (18 cm) of rain were expected to fall, the National Weather Service said in its forecast, after rains that began over the weekend inundated rivers and streams.
“Widespread, heavy rainfall capable of producing considerable to catastrophic flooding is beginning to unfold, road washouts are ongoing, and are expected to increase in extent and severity over the course of the day,” the weather service said on Monday.
Hundreds of flights in and out of airports across the region, including New York’s LaGuardia and Boston’s Logan, have been delayed or canceled starting on Sunday due to the rains. On Monday morning, Amtrak suspended passenger train service between Albany and New York after flooding damaged tracks.
The weather claimed the life of an Orange County, New York, woman, who was swept away by floodwaters as she attempted to leave her home with her dog on Sunday, County Executive Steven Neuhaus, said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday.
“Last night was complete chaos,” he said.
Neuhaus said first responders were trying to get to trapped people to make sure they are safe in Highland Falls and the West Point-Fort Montgomery area, which is along the Hudson River north of New York City and is home to the Army’s U.S. Military Academy, best known as West Point.
“Many roads and bridges have been washed out,” he said. “So that’s basically what our priority is today, to try to get to them and open up these major arteries.”
Video footage and photos posted on social media showed washed-out roadways and raging floodwaters reaching houses on Sunday and early Monday morning
“Oh my God. It’s up to my knees,” Melissa Roberts said in a video showing floodwaters rushing past her and several vehicles and up to homes in Orange County, New York.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has issued states of emergency for Orange County and Ontario County to the northwest, and urged residents to watch the weather forecast closely throughout the day.
In Vermont, life-threatening flash flooding was possible for most of the state on Monday, with forecasters saying as much as 1 inch (2.5 cm) of rain an hour was expected at times throughout the morning.
The weather service’s Burlington office declared a flash flood emergency in central Vermont on Monday morning, advising this could potentially bring the worst flooding since Hurricane Irene hit the New England state in 2011, when 11 inches (28 cm) fell.
Media reports said the rain had already turned many roads into raging rivers across the state, where Governor Phil Scott declared a state of emergency on Sunday.
Emergency crews in boats rescued about a dozen campers in Andover early Monday and more boat crews, including some from North Carolina, were on their way to Vermont to help, local media reported, citing the state’s emergency management office.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Ed Osmond and Jonathan Oatis)
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