Killer storm Ivan slammed the city yesterday, hammering Manhattan and parts of the other boroughs with a hard, fast torrent of 2 inches of rain in less than two hours, crippling subways and highways, spewing sewer trash into the streets and stranding commuters.
Ivan packed a quick wallop – its first 45-minute strike started at 8:15 a.m. and dumped 1.4 inches of rain that overwhelmed catchbasins and paralyzed eight subway lines for hours.
It’s unusual for the city to see so much rain in such a short time, said climate expert Steve Fybish – but he noted that yesterday’s torrent didn’t break the Sept. 4, 1913, record of 3.31 inches in one hour.
Even after the pace of the rainfall slowed, there was mass confusion at transit hubs like Times Square and waterlogged Grand Central Terminal.
Confused tourists and shoppers crowded around subway information booths and struggled to navigate an emergency batch of local buses running along subway lines. Competition for cabs was feverish.
“They should have learned from the last time it rained heavy,” fumed Don Ward, 39, of The Bronx, who stood in Times Square, directing tourists to the Third Avenue buses. “It’s like Niagara Falls down there.”
But because the storm was short-lived and hit on a weekend when traffic was light, it caused less disruption than Hurricane Frances, which on Sept. 8 dumped more than 3 inches on the Soppy Apple over three hours, throwing 13 subway lines into chaos.
Transit officials said yesterday’s massive rainfall strained storm drains, backing up to the third rail and forcing an immediate power shutdown to trains.
Still, it was enough to seriously flood major thoroughfares, including the FDR around 106th Street, the Belt Parkway from Bay Ridge to Coney Island and parts of the Henry Hudson Parkway. By mid-afternoon, cars were still stuck in more than a foot of water on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway near the Brooklyn Bridge.
In SoHo, overwhelmed sewers belched up litter and gobs of runoff grease from local restaurants, creating a stinky sidewalk soup more than a foot deep in places.
Toni Donofrio, 41, parked her green Saturn along West Broadway just before the storm, and returned to find the rain had floated it up partly on the sidewalk – which prompted an officer to write her a $55 ticket for illegal parking.
“I’m pretty much speechless,” said the cooking instructor. “Unfortunately, the car stinks, but I have to get it home.”
Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes due to electrical fires believed to have been sparked by the flooding. On East 64th Street, more than 30 people had to leave their apartments, while four residents and five firefighters were treated for injuries due to a fire.
In The Bronx, a 72-unit apartment building was evacuated after the heavy rain collapsed a retaining wall, the Buildings Department said.
Additional reporting by Michael White, Georgett Roberts and Heidi Singer
TODAY: 67 degrees Breezy and cool, sunny
TOMORROW: 70 degrees Mostly sunny, pleasant
TUESDAY: 76 degrees Mostly sunny and nice
INCH BY INCH
How Ivan drenced the Big Apple:
Central Park
8 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. 0.05 inches
8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. 1.40 inches
9 a.m. to 10 a.m. .85 inches
Total rainfall in 2 hours 2.30 inches
Source: AccuWeather