The flooding in New York continues to affect millions. Significant portions of New York have been completely paralyzed, with services such as transit shut down entirely.
A state of emergency has been declared, and both the mayor of New York City and the governor of the state have released messages instructing residents to remain in their homes.
One resident of the city chose to forgo the advice - Sally, a sea lion in the Central Park Zoo, took advantage of the rising waters to swim out of her enclosure on Friday.
The New York Times that the escape was visible from the the city’s parks department offices on the third floor of a nearby building.
Sally was monitored by zoo workers as she investigated the park. The zoo reported that she eventually rejoined the other sea lions in their enclosure before the floodwaters receded too far for her to swim back.
Although the rain has begun to stop and the floodwaters are draining from the city, the damages are only partially known at this stage. Among other reports were numerous flight cancellations, broken infrastructure including ruptured sewage lines, train failures, and vehicles immobilized and abandoned on roads throughout the city.
The mayor, Eric Adams, is facing public backlash for failing to help the city prepare for the storm. The mayor defended himself by claiming that "leadership is not only the mayor" and saying that "anyone caught off-guard must have been living under a rock."