New York State responds to areas impacted by extreme flooding
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--- Extreme flooding hit New York State hard over the weekend. Nine inches of water fell in the Hudson Valley Region. Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference and viewed the damage in Highland Falls, saying the storm was deadly.
"A young woman, 35 years old, who came out seeing that her house was taking on too much water was with her dog. Her fiancée literally saw her swept away. Terror. Devastation. Right here less than 24 hours ago," said Governor Kathy Hochul.
Water rescues took place as people were stranded in their cars.
"All night long, I saw fire department doing from house to house and helping people and there were cars parked in 9W, in the median being abandoned, or people sitting in them. Like the governor mentioned, there were people trapped in their car in 3, 4 feet of water that stayed in their car. Those people all had to be rescued by EMS, police, and fire," explained Steve Neuhaus, Orange County Executive.
Amtrak was forced to suspend services between Albany and New York City.
"What we saw here, stranded passengers on Amtrak Trains," said Hochul. "More than 700 people stranded in Putnam County last night. My gratitude to the local teams on the ground who helped them find shelter. Get them busses. We were deploying busses to get people down to New York City and up to Albany during the heat of the storm."
The state has been busy inspecting the integrity of roads and bridges. The governor said she’s been in contact with federal officials. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand along with Congressman Pat Ryan wrote a letter to FEMA, also asking for assistance.
Other parts of New York, such as Canandaigua in the Fingerlakes Region, experienced damage as well.