Heavy Rescue Operations on Highways Around Orange County as Governor Hochul Declares State of Emergency

by Mindy Cohn

Emergency personnel continue life-saving efforts throughout Rockland and beyond as Governor Hochul declared a State of Emergency around 9:30 p.m. for Orange County due to the life-threatening flooding over the past few hours and the 13,000 homes without power. 

Thirty people were rescued from the raging water along Route 6 and the Palisades Interstate Parkway as the New York State Police worked with the assistance of KJ EMS, and Chaverim of Rockland and KJ. A few of those rescued were treated for hypothermia. 

"A once-in-1,000-year rainfall event has occurred in the last 6 hours in the Lower Hudson Valley, north of #NYC," Meteorologist Craig Ceecee, Ph.D., tweeted. "Up to 8 inches of rain has fallen in just 6 hours in the region, particularly from Peekskill to Woodbury. Major flooding is ongoing."