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Flooding Expected to Hit City's Coastline Through Wednesday, Mayor Warns

By Katie Honan | February 9, 2016 10:46am | Updated on February 9, 2016 1:55pm
 Flooding on Beach 138th Street in Belle Harbor.
Flooding on Beach 138th Street in Belle Harbor.
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Adam Funtleyder

ARVERNE — Coastal flooding could hit the city through Wednesday morning, the mayor announced late Monday night, hours after streets throughout the boroughs already began to flood.

Mayor Bill de Blasio sent out an advisory late Monday saying minor to moderate flooding could be caused by two storm systems off the coast and high tide from the new moon. 

"Some areas of the city saw moderate levels of coastal flooding on Monday morning, including parts of southern Queens where roadways were flooded," he said

These areas should expect similar flooding Tuesday and Wednesday, he said in an email. 

Monday's flooding took the city by surprise, de Blasio told WNYC.

“We found out, obviously, as it was happening. It was not expected from the original reports,” he said. 

The National Weather Service, though, had predicted "minor coastal impacts" with higher tides as of Monday morning. 

A spokeswoman for the mayor said the tides were higher than originally forecasted, and the Office of Emergency Management " immediately deployed city resources" to areas impacted by flooding.  

"In most cases, impacts were isolated to street flooding and did not involve property damage," she said. 

NWS issued another coastal flood warning for southern Brooklyn and Queens through Tuesday at 11 a.m. 

It also issued a flood advisory for the Bronx and Staten Island through 10 a.m. Tuesday, with more updates for Wednesday's tides to come. 

De Blasio also touted the city's investment along the coast to prevent coastal flooding, which includes additional sand at Coney Island and Rockaway, dunes on the peninsula and Staten Island and 10,500 linear feet of bulkheads across the five boroughs.

The Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation and Department of Sanitation would also be out to clean up catch basins in areas that frequently flood, the city said.