Heavy rains on Thursday caused massive floods at several New York City train stations, forcing some desperate commuters to wade through subterranean lakes just to get to work.
A woman walked into waist-deep water as she attempted to reach the platform at the 157th Street No. 1 train station in Washington Heights, according to shocking video.
As she descended the stairs, the “pour” straphanger was up to her ankles in water — before plunging into the underground pond. She kept walking, holding a shopping bag in the air, unfazed.
As he made his way out of the flooded stop, a man was seen trudging through knee-deep water with a plastic bag on his head, according to video.
Meanwhile, according to a video captioned “the potato sack race approach,” several other commuters at the same flooded station wrapped themselves in black garbage bags to get through the subway pool.
One person wrote on Twitter, “Yooo the 157th St station is underwater,” with a video showing a deluge on the street above the train stop.
Another user tweeted: “Wow @mta flooded train, no AC, feels like a sauna, trying to get on safety so no one slips and the conductor is mad we are not getting on fast enough. What a mess. Nothings changed.”
The 191st Street No. 1 train station and the 125th Street station both experienced flooding, with video showing water pouring onto the platform and onto an incoming train.
Torrents poured down a staircase at the 149th Street – Grand Concourse station in the Bronx, turning it into a waterfall.
“Stairs looking like a water park ride right now,” wrote the Instagram account “Subway Creatures.”
Water was seen spurting through a manhole cover on the platform at 34th Street Penn Station, creating a geyser effect, according to footage.
When Tropical Storm Elsa passes through the region on Friday, the Big Apple is expected to continue to be soaked.
According to an MTA spokesperson, the agency is investigating videos of the flooding.
“Crews are actively addressing flooding issues in our stations,” the New York City Transit Subways account tweeted.
“We’ve hardened stations in coastal flooding zones, but water will always flow downhill when streets above flood,” the tweet read. “Please stay safe and stay out of flooded stations while our crews work to fix it.”
The flooding occurred as the National Weather Service issued a “severe thunderstorm watch” for the city, which was expected to last until 9 p.m.
“Drains are working remarkably well,” said MTA Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg.
“NYCT crews are, as always, working hard and fast and doing great work,” Feinberg tweeted. “Working as quickly as we can to get everyone where they’re going.”
On Thursday evening, crews were manually pumping water to drain shuttered stops along the A line from 181st Street to 207th Street, Feinberg said at an 8:45 p.m. news conference. Officials said the A train was back in service in Upper Manhattan by 10:36 p.m.
The widespread flooding was caused in part by a “significant amount of rain in a short period of time,” according to Feinberg.
“Obviously I’ve seen the same videos you have,” Feinberg said. “None of our customers should have to go through that. Three inches of rain in two hours is going to be tough anytime, particularly in a city that all runs downhill.”
She urged residents of New York to stay at home on Friday morning, when Elsa is expected to arrive.
“If you don’t have to commute tomorrow morning, it’s a good day to stay home and try to work from home,” Feinberg said.
