Storms could bring heavy rain and flash flooding from Virginia to Connecticut

TRENTON N J AP Strong storms with the likely to cause dangerous flash flooding on Thursday sparked multiple alerts by the National Weather Organization from northern Virginia to Connecticut New Jersey Lt Gov Tahesha Way declared a state of urgency for the state in advance of the storms Flash flooding is practicable with fast-moving thunderstorms especially with already saturated ground Please take all necessary precautions Way wrote in a post on X Forecasters declared the strongest storms were expected later Thursday afternoon and night The National Weather Facility stated heavy to excessive rainfall and potentially severe thunderstorms were expected along the Washington-Philadelphia-New York City corridor Several areas in the southern part of the corridor could see rainfall rates of inches centimeters per hour the institution announced The weather organization issued flash flood warnings early Thursday afternoon for parts of Berks Lancaster and York counties in Pennsylvania and parts of Baltimore and Hartford counties in northern Maryland meaning heavy rain was falling The provision disclosed flooding was accomplishable in small creeks and streams and urban areas along with highways streets underpasses and poor-drainage and low-lying areas Flood watches and severe thunderstorm watches were in effect in the region until late Thursday and Friday with to inches to centimeters of rain practicable in a few areas The weather organization posted a severe thunderstorm warning for an area of eastern Pennsylvania between Allentown and Reading saying mph kph wind gusts and penny-size hail were viable Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro posted on social media that state urgency management personnel were preparing prospective response and recovery efforts New York City leaders warned that heavy rain could flood specific streets parts of the subway and basements They urged people living in basements to move to higher floors and issued an advisory asking New Yorkers to avoid progress from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon Source