Cars trapped as floodwaters take over Major Deegan
KINGSBRIDGE, Bronx (WABC) -- The day after cars were submerged on the Bronx River parkway, flooding continues to be a problem along the Major Deegan Expressway.
The water stopped vehicles in their tracks and some people had no choice but to abandon their vehicles.
Some drivers said they heard the warnings, but they did not expect the water to come up so fast.
One driver said he was driving down the highway and ran right into rising water that came up to his seats. He had to be rescued by a police lifeboat. His blue Honda remains stuck in the water.
"I was scared a little bit but luckily I had my friends with me," he said.
Another driver said the entire highway flooded within seconds.
He came to see his flooded car in daylight on Thursday.
"I thought it was a joke, but it came up so fast...I learned my lesson that for sure," he said.
The Bronx River Parkway was also closed off, which caused a traffic nightmare.
NewsCopter 7 caught the aftermath off Gun Hill Road and along the Deegan which showed one vehicle after another submerged.
Just a block away on Broadway, businesses were also underwater.
Andy Williams owns a funeral home and had recently renovated his garage.
"I've been here 81 years, I've never seen anything like this," Williams said. "Four sump pumps...gorgeous and bam it's a swimming pool down there now."
Five feet of water was too much for the sump pumps and next door there was a heartwrenching moment for the owner of a 1956 Buick in a flooded lot. He was going to move it to higher ground, but it's a little late.
Part of the Deegan is still closed off, so is the Bronx River Parkway at E. 233rd St. and Gun Hill Road. There is a lot of cleaning to be done and the cars need to be removed before the two roadways open up again.
ALSO READ | 12 people, including toddler, killed in historic NYC flooding as water rushed into homes
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