New Rochelle High School weight room floods, students sent home early as storm drenches Westchester County
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Epic rainfall made for a record-setting September day in Westchester County on Friday.
In New Rochelle, floodwater in one neighborhood washed down on the grounds of Paine Cottage, then flowed over a wall and out onto North Avenue, where it a made a mess for drivers.
"I was here since 8:30 this morning and I saw the whole thing flood in less than two hours. It's crazy, and they should have some kind of barrier here that no one should drive, because people are attempting and I'm honking at them while I'm sitting here that they shouldn't go. It's very dangerous," said Dina Magram.
Water overwhelmed storm sewers and flowed right into New Rochelle High School.
"The weight room was flooded. My teacher told us just pack up and go, and then they told us to hold in place," said Luke Camerini.
"The first floor is really bad, our brand new library got flooded again," said Jaden Cohen.
"Up to your knees, the water was really bad in the school. Everyone had to be moved up to the second floor," said Kaitlyn Thomas.
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Students were released just before noon. Some were forced to make their way through the flooding.
"It was not fun. My shoes are soaked. My feet are soaked," said Camerini.
"Really bad. The water was like pushing me backwards," said Thomas.
A school bus drove through flooded Winding Brook Road and stalled out. The kids were all OK.
Countless vehicles were stuck, including a van that stranded a pair of workers for two hours until their boss used his pickup truck to pull them out.
"I wanted to get it out, pull it out of the water because there are pesticides in here and stuff like that. So we don't want that getting in the water," said Jim Horton, of Quality Pro Pest Services.
"Not fun, and cold and wet," said Alex Slinskey, who was stuck in the van.
Also in Westchester County, images showed dozens of cars nearly submerged in a parking lot in Bronxville. Police said about 100 were totaled.
Homeowners in Tuckahoe spent a long day fearing the unknown and dealing with the worst.
"My wife and I have been pumping water out of the basement since 11 o'clock this morning ... and I don't think there's any end in sight, but we're fighting the battle," Greg Luisi said.
"It's still coming out from the sewer," Erebus Zhego asaid. "Everything is backing up to our house. All the water is sewer water. Nothing is coming from the rain. Nothing is coming from inside. It's all backup."
"My garage is in the basement and I was waiting for the water to flow down there and ruin the basement and what can we do? There's nothing we can do. We ride it out," Joe Larsen added.
Mamaroneck also reported flooding in low lying areas, like Hoyt Avenue.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City, where major roadways and subways lines were shut down. Mount Vernon and Yonkers followed with their own states of emergency.
