CNN
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Heavy rains caused flash flood emergencies and water rescue efforts in New Haven and Fairfield counties in Connecticut on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service warned Sunday that “widespread flooding and water rescues” continued. The emergency advisory was later downgraded to a flood warning, which also included the cities of Waterbury, Danbury and the town of Fairfield.
David Stark of the New York National Weather Service told CNN Weather that between 6 and 10 inches of rain fell in southwestern Connecticut over a period of about six to nine hours on Sunday, with most of it falling in the afternoon. Monroe, Connecticut, saw 9.98 inches of rain, making it a once-in-200-year event for the city.
In an update on Sunday night, the Met Office said flooding also affected the cities of Oxford, Seymour and Cheshire, which are outside the flash flood emergency area.
“2 to 6 inches of rain have fallen. An additional 0.5 to 1.0 inch is expected in areas under warning. Flash flooding is already occurring,” the weather service warned.
“Emergency management continues to report water rescues, multiple landslides, numerous washed-out roads and bridges, and rising rivers throughout central Fairfield County and northern New Haven County. Additionally, emergency management is assessing the integrity of multiple dams in the region,” the weather service said.
Numerous other flood warnings have been issued across the North East.
Heavy rain created dangerous driving conditions and forced road closures in several Connecticut cities and towns, including Stamford, Danbury, Southbury and Naugatuck.
“Several roads throughout the town are flooded due to heavy rainfall and residents are advised to remain in their homes if possible,” Southbury Police said. “Crews are working throughout the town responding to emergencies and road closures.”
Heavy rains also caused mudslides Sunday afternoon and caused a gas leak near an apartment building in Danbury, prompting evacuations, Danbury public information officer Erin Henry told CNN.
Henry added that another Danbury apartment building on Main Street also had to be evacuated due to flooding.
In a post by X, the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said the state’s Emergency Operations Center was monitoring the situation and that it had deployed an urban search and rescue team to Southbury.
At least two state parks have been closed due to flooding, according to a post on the Connecticut State Parks X account.
Meanwhile, more than 700 flights were canceled at three major airports near New York City on Sunday after thunderstorms hit the area on Sunday night.
According to FAA.gov, flights were grounded at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports due to inclement weather, and were still outages as of 10 p.m. ET.
Trains were also affected, with Amtrak saying “severe weather” caused flooding of tracks between Philadelphia’s 30th Street station and New York’s Pennsylvania Station on Sunday.
“Work crews report that water on the tracks is gradually receding. Passengers traveling in the affected areas should expect delays of 60 to 90 minutes,” Amtrak said in a statement on its website.
CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa and CNN’s Amanda Jackson and Susanna Cullinan contributed to this report.