Mesoscale convective complexes producing large rainfalls and spawning tornadoes do not occur often in the New York City and Long Island area. On the morning of July 18th, 2007 a mesoscale convective complex raced across Long Island, NY. The complex spawned a brief EF-1 tornado. Flooding crippled the morning rush hour over much of Long Island as this complex moved east. About three weeks later this rare event repeated itself! This time, on August 8th, 2007, the focus was New York City! For the first time in over 100 years a bonafide tornado ripped across Staten Island and Brooklyn. This was no weak tornado. It was classified as an EF-2 as it ripped roofs off of several row houses in Brooklyn.

While the tornado made the front page headlines on August 9th, the next several pages of all New York City's newspapers told, “the rest of the story.” Flooding had crippled the City. The New York City massive subway and rail transportation system that moves millions of citizens daily came to a halt for several hours. Bus routes were severely curtailed due to flooded roadways. Trains, including the Long Island Railroad, Metro North, and Amtrak stopped running. Traffic on the highways literally stopped and people later spoke about their record commutes. Millions of people were stranded. Some people didn't make it to work until early in the afternoon; others turned around and went home. Even hundreds of homes were flooded out.

These impacts were the result of two to three inches of rain falling in less than two hours. This rainfall is equivalent to what might be experienced during a hurricane event. We haven't been affected by a hurricane in this area for over 22 years. Is there cause for alarm?

This presentation will delve into this flooding event and its aftermath. It will touch on how the City's agencies have reacted and how vulnerable the area will be to storms of this magnitude in the future if no actions are taken to mitigate the storm's effects.