Gary Archibald, Weathercaster

I heard the deep bass, the acoustically reverberating rumble of sound overhead Wednesday morning – an awakening of dramatic proportions. Flickers of intense light gleamed through the blinds of my bedroom window, the raindrops, heavy brooding and pronounced with each and every audible impact with my roof and windows - and in those first moments of recognition, I envisioned the dire consequences of the events as they were unfolding. Flooding. Power outages. Roadways impassable. Submerged vehicles. Lives threatened.

Unfortunately, the visions became a reality for many who live and work in the Northeast – especially for New Yorkers.

VIDEO: Gary Archibald Reports On NYC Flooding

Indeed streets were flooding in New York City. I live in Queens. It too felt the brunt of the very heavy downpours; flash flooding ensued. Suburban streets were immersed in 4-6 inches of rainfall, backyards became miniature swamps, and cars were submerged in the middle of intersections, under passes and bridges, on major highways such as the Long Island Expressway, the Clearview and the Cross Islands. Low lying areas throughout Long Island were inundated with too much rain to quickly without the room or time to recover.

Commuting became a real danger. Commuting became the nightmare of the living moment. I arrived safely, thankfully, to work – the trek that normally takes an hour and 15 minutes on a good day – took more than two and a half hours.

Lessons learned: Don’t tempt the elements. I knew that, but it was reinforced this morning. Don’t test your car in deep water. You’ll lose. That’s a no-brainer. Snuffing out the life of your car is an expensive endeavor. Silly. Reckless. Unnecessary. It’s a blessing that no one was killed this morning.

I did make a few calls into NBC Weather Plus and MSNBC – they turned into live phone-in interviews on a national scale. It felt good to relate the story to our valued viewers about the rainy rampage as it was happening first-hand. I hope that you and yours traveled safely today. I know that public transit (buses and trains) in addition to air traffic (JFK, La Guardia, and Newark were all a mess) was slowed to a halt for extended periods of time today. I felt your pain.

More rains are on the way for Thursday but not as heavy, not as prolonged over the Northeast. Therein lies the silver lining. We’ll take it. It’s all good.

GA