On September 29, 2023, the New York City metro area experienced devastating flash flooding caused by persistent heavy downpours. The intense rainfall led to life-threatening flash flooding that turned streets into raging rivers, flooded subways and led to the evacuation of hospitals and schools. AccuWeather For Business helped companies be the best prepared and saved lives by providing the earliest advance notice, the most accurate forecasts, and the best description of impacts.
MOST ADVANCE NOTICE
The heavy rain persisted for several hours, with rainfall rates surpassing 3 inches per hour. As the rain intensified, AccuWeather Storm Warning meteorologists issued a SkyGuard® Flash Flood Warning that EXCLUSIVELY provided 17 ADDITIONAL minutes of life-saving advance notice for imminent flash flooding in parts of Western Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan when compared to the warnings issued by the public government and other sources.
As Wednesday and Thursday progressed, the forecast became more dire: AccuWeather was the first to highlight the potential for flooding on Friday, issuing a "watch for flooding" forecast on Wednesday, a day in ADVANCE of the National Weather Service (NWS), which issued a Flood Watch only on Thursday afternoon.
AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a Storm Potential Notice (SPN) early Thursday morning, more than 8 hours in ADVANCE of the NWS and other sources issuing a Flood Watch. AccuWeather’s SPN forecasted downpours and flash flooding across NYC, emphasizing the risk of rainfall rates exceeding 1 inch per hour, particularly in urban areas.
ACCUWEATHER’S SUPERIOR ACCURACY
AccuWeather For Business expert meteorologists were the first to predict "street flooding and more serious flash flooding in places," emphasizing the rapid escalation of life-threatening situations in urban areas like NYC. By highlighting these dangers, AccuWeather helped businesses be best prepared and helped save lives.
AccuWeather accurately forecasted the risk of 4-8 inches of rain in specific locations, including Brooklyn, Queens, and parts of Nassau County. Other sources provided less precise estimates, demonstrating AccuWeather's superior forecasts. AccuWeather was also extremely accurate with where the rain would occur.
IMPACTS ON URBAN INDUSTRIES
AccuWeather's accurate forecasts and advanced warnings significantly impacted key industries in New York City. Here’s how AccuWeather for Business clients benefited during the flash flood incident:
- Education and Schools: AccuWeather's accurate flash flood warnings allowed schools to anticipate the potential risks to student safety. By providing advance notice, schools could make informed decisions regarding closures, early dismissals, or implementing safety protocols to protect students and staff.
- Transportation and Logistics: Accurate flash flood forecasts from AccuWeather allowed transportation and logistics companies to prepare and mitigate disruptions. By knowing the areas at risk, subways were evacuated, buses rerouted, and scheduled adjusted, ensuring the safety of drivers and passengers while maintaining service continuity.
- Infrastructure and Construction: AccuWeather's detailed rain predictions enabled infrastructure and construction companies to assess potential impacts on ongoing projects. Thanks to timely alerts from AccuWeather, they could take necessary precautions to avoid damage and protect assets.
- Emergency Management Services: AccuWeather's precise forecasts provided crucial information to emergency management services. This allowed for a swift response and appropriate resource allocation, aiding in effective planning and coordination of rescue operations.
>>READ MORE: AccuWeather's SkyGuard a game-changer for children's hospital
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Superior Accuracy™: Better informed, Better protected, Better prepared.
Be proactive with AccuWeather SkyGuard Warnings backed by Superior Accuracy™, which will deliver site-specific alerts and warnings well before severe weather hits, giving you much-needed time to prepare.
Benefits of SkyGuard® Warnings:
- Proactive, site-specific alerts offer warnings well before severe weather impacts occur
- Live one-on-one or group consultation is provided by our weather experts anytime, day or night
- Alerts delivered in a format that aligns with your organizational emergency management plan
- All-clear notifications are sent when a threat is over, minimizing weather-related downtime
- All alerts are delivered via push notification from the SkyGuard mobile app, available on Android and iOS
Want to learn more about how we can help you? Demo SkyGuard® today and protect your business, employees, and assets. Want to learn more? Demo SkyGuard today.
The AccuWeather Advantage
The benefits of AccuWeather go beyond protecting the lives of your employees and customers. They will also reduce your operational costs through better planning, better mitigation efforts and allow you to make better weather-impacted decisions. AccuWeather forecasts will help you make the right decisions sooner and faster, keeping your people safer, saving you money overall, eliminating angst and stress, reducing your risk and liability, reducing losses and better protecting your reputation.
Serving more than half of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of businesses globally, AccuWeather is recognized as the most accurate source of weather forecasts, advanced warnings and data in the world.
