Flood warnings issued for eastern New York as life-threatening flash flood threat shifts toward New England

By Meteorologists Briana Waxman, Chris Dolce

(CNN) — Dangerous flooding is unfolding in eastern New York amid torrential rainfall as a potent storm moves toward New England. It comes a day after it triggered water rescues and widespread travel impacts in the Northeast.

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A band of slow-moving downpours has soaked eastern New York, including the Albany area, for hours, setting off the flooding. Multiple flash flood warnings are in effect over the Hudson Valley, where rainfall totals have reached 2 to 6 inches.

Video from CNN affiliate WRGB showed cars stranded in floodwater in Guilderland, New York, just outside of Albany where multiple roads were closed due to flooding. A man in the video appeared to carry a child from one of the vehicles and helped another person walk through the waist-deep water.

More than 11 million people are under flood watches Wednesday from eastern New York through western New England. The greatest danger is centered on parts of eastern New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut, where a Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rain is in place, as seen in the graphic below.

Repeated downpours could produce significant and potentially life-threatening flooding. Heavy rain will gradually spread into eastern Massachusetts, including Boston, later Wednesday.

Storm totals of 2 to 4 inches of rain are forecast across much of southwest New England. The National Weather Service warned as much as 5 to 7 inches could fall in the Berkshires and Worcester Hills, where the mountainous terrain will help squeeze even more moisture from the atmosphere.

The storm is creeping northeast after soaking parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Parts of northern New Jersey picked up between 2 to 5 inches of rain.

New York City avoided the worst flooding overnight and a flood watch there expired Wednesday morning. Scattered showers remain possible the rest of Wednesday, but threat of significant flooding has ended.

Flooding strands cars, forces rescues

At least 20 people were rescued from floodwater in the Paterson, New Jersey, area, according to the city’s fire department. They included a person stranded in the high water in their wheelchair.

Just after midnight Wednesday, flooding closed two lanes of US 1/9 in both directions near the Pulaski Skyway in Hudson County, New Jersey, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Multiple cars became stranded in floodwater on Staten Island late Tuesday night, according to the New York City Fire Department. Flooded roads, stranded vehicles and water rescues were also reported in parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania on Monday and Tuesday.

The Rescue Hose & Ladder Co. fire department said it responded to Coalport in central Pennsylvania, where crews rescued three people and two dogs from a residence.

In eastern Pennsylvania, five people, including a child, had to be rescued when floodwater inundated their vehicle on a low-lying road in Reading, CNN affiliate WFMZ reported.

Airports in the region were also struggling to keep up in the heavy rain. Hundreds of flights were canceled at airports in the New York City area Tuesday.

By early Wednesday, around 200 flights had been canceled and dozens delayed at LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport combined, according to FlightAware. At Boston Logan International Airport, more than 30 flights were canceled as of early Wednesday and about as many flights delayed.

When the flood threat will wind down

Heavy rain falling at rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will continue to soak parts of eastern New York and western New England through Wednesday afternoon. These areas are at greatest risk of additional significant flooding much of the day.

Coastal New England, including Boston, will also see bands of soaking downpours, but storms should move fast enough to prevent serious flooding impacts.

The storm system will start to weaken on Wednesday evening and its rainfall will become more scattered and less intense; at which point, the risk of additional widespread flooding will drop.

A Level 1 of 5 risk of isolated flooding rain is in place from Boston to coastal Maine on Thursday for lingering pockets of heavier rain.

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Meteorologists Chris Dolce and Dakota Smith contributed to this report.