Two women dead after torrential rain floods New Jersey and parts of New York subway

Two women have died in New Jersey as a result of severe flash flooding on the East Coast, which grounded flights and even took out parts of the New York City subway system.

The women, who have not been named by authorities, were swept off the road and trapped in their car as waters surged in the Cedar Brook, in Plainfield, New Jersey, on Monday night.

According to ABC7, witnesses called 911 when the incident occurred, but rescuers were unable to reach the vehicle due to the ferocity of the storm. The women are believed to have drowned.

“We’re not unique, but we’re in one of these sorts of high humidity, high temperature, high storm intensity patterns right now,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, speaking to reporters Tuesday. “Everybody needs to stay alert.”

Both New Jersey and New York states declared a state of emergency on Monday night as severe storms battered the region.

In Plainfield, roads were damaged and pieces of sidewalks were missing, with debris strewn everywhere, per ABC. Authorities were investigating why a house caught on fire and collapsed and whether it was due to a possible explosion.

Meanwhile, a flood warning was in effect on Monday night for all five boroughs of New York City, while video shared online from commuters showed subway stations filling up with water and sloshing into carriages.

By Tuesday morning, the system was fully operational for commuters; however, some roads remained closed across both states.

Janno Lieber, chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, told ABC 7 in New York that there was also full service operating on the Long Island Railroad and Metro North commuter rail service after hundreds of people worked overnight to restore operations.

The sudden flooding occurred after the city’s sewer system became overwhelmed by the rain and backed up into the subway tunnels and to the stations, Lieber said. In several cases, he added, the backup “popped a manhole,” creating the dramatic “geyser” seen in some videos.

“What happened last night is something that is, you know, a reality in our system,” Lieber said. “We’ve been working with the city of New York to try to get them to increase the capacity of the system at these key locations.”

In addition, dozens of flights were delayed or canceled at at least six area airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport/ A total of 159 flights were canceled at Newark Liberty Airport, according to FlightAware data.