2 die in flooded New York City basements during heavy rainstorm

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NEW YORK (AP) — Two people died in flooded New York City basements Thursday during a rainstorm that shut down roadways and caused airport delays, authorities said.

A scuba team recovered the body of a 39-year-old man after firefighters received a call of a person trapped in the flooded basement of a three-story townhouse in Brooklyn at about 4:30 p.m., police said.

A video posted online showed firefighters carrying the victim away through calf-deep water on the street.

In Manhattan, a 43-year-old man was found dead inside the flooded basement boiler room of an apartment building, police said. The cause of death was under investigation.

Some spots around the city saw record rainfall. Preliminary reports showed 1.8 inch (4.57 centimeters) of rain fell in Central Park on Thursday, which would surpass the record of 1.64 inches (4.17 centimeters) set for the park in 1917, the National Weather Service said. LaGuardia Airport recorded 1.97 inch (5 centimeters) of rain, which would break the 1955 record of 1.18 inches (3 centimeters) for that airport.

New York saw hours of rainfall of varying intensity Thursday leading into the evening commute. Photos and video on social media showed water rising to the bumpers of cars and pouring into subway stations.

“When you look at the amount of water that was coming down, our sewer systems are just not built to handle that. It was a steady rain, throughout,” Mayor Eric Adams told radio station 1010 WINS.

Street flooding was highly localized, turning some intersections with clogged drains into pools deep enough to float cars, while leaving the next blocks with only modest puddles.

Falling tree limbs damaged vehicles in some neighborhoods.

Authorities didn't immediately release the names of the two men who died.

The man who died in Brooklyn had entered the flooded basement of his building while trying to rescue one of his dogs, a neighbor, Renée Phillips, told The New York Times.

The hazards that flash flooding can pose to residents of the city’s thousands of basement apartments came into sharp relief in 2021, when heavy rainfall killed 11 people in such dwellings.