Trees Tumble, Central Park Floods, As Rainfall Record Falls
Huge trees tumbled down–one in Peter Cooper Village and another across Fifth Ave. on the UES–but fortunately nobody was hurt in either incident. The FDNY had to rescue a man and woman after they drove their BMW into a flooded underpass in Central Park. A record 3.66 inches of rain fell on March 23.
Manhattan was slowly drying out early this week after being drenched by a storm that dumped a record rainfall totaling 3.66 inches on March 23 nearly double the former high on that date of 1.66 inches, on March 23.
When combined with 45-50 mph wind gusts it created havoc across Manhattan and particularly the East Side. The police received multiple 911 calls at 6 p.m. regarding a tree that had fallen on E. 93rd St. & 5th Avenue. Upon arrival, officers observed a large tree in the middle of the road that had clobbered three parked cars, but no injuries were reported. The FDNY and EMS were on the scene.
The FDNY was also active on W. 65th St. when a car with an older man and woman were immobilized in the middle of the traverse due to high water in a flooded underpass. Both were removed from the partially submerged BMW luxury auto by firefighters. There was no information on whether the car survived. The passengers were taken away on stretchers by EMTs but were not believed to have suffered serious injuries, according to reports.
Just south of the UES in Peter Cooper Village on 23rd street & First Ave. a large tree came crashing down. Planted when the complex was opened late in the 1940s, the tree crashed next to a popular basketball court and across a sidewalk but both were empty at the time. Groundkeepers for the complex were on the scene removing the tree by the next morning. However, replacing the tree will be another story. The tree was ten stories high and more than just shade during a hot summer. It stood for the legacy of the complex with the other trees surrounding the benches and the basketball court. Let’s hope mother nature and its extreme weather events go easy as more rain was slated to roll in on March 28.
The National Weather Service said the March 23 downpour was the wettest March 23rd ever and the third wettest March day in history. As a new storm is brewing, the National Weather Service said that the city has already recorded 8.24 inches so far this month, making it the sixth wettest March on record.
As a precaution, the New York Mets cancelled their opening day that was orignally scheduled for March 28. Another three quarters of an inch fell that day.