New York City began drying out on Saturday after being soaked by one of its wettest days in decades, as city dwellers dried out basements and traffic resumed on highways, railways and airports that were temporarily shuttered by Friday's severe rainfall.

Parts of Brooklyn saw more than 18.41 centimeters of rain, with at least one spot recording 6 centimeters in a single hour, turning some streets into canals and stranding drivers on highways.

Record rainfall – more than 21.97 centimeters – fell at John F. Kennedy International Airport, surpassing the record for any September day set during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

More rain was expected over the weekend but the worst was over, Governor Kathy Hochul said on Saturday morning during a briefing at a transportation control center in Manhattan.

Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams declared states of emergency and urged people to stay put if possible.

The deluge came less than three months after a storm caused deadly floods in New York's Hudson Valley and swamped Vermont's capital, Montpelier.

Hochul blamed the frequency and intensity of storms on climate change.

"This is the scale in terms of the water that dropped from the heavens during this torrential rain event that actually was the same as Hurricane Ida. The blessing is that we didn't have the wind associated with it that accompanied Hurricane Ida. But I remember that event like it was yesterday," the governor said on Saturday.

As the planet warms, storms are forming in a hotter atmosphere that can hold more moisture, making extreme rainfall more frequent, according to atmospheric scientists.

For the most part on Saturday, most New Yorkers returned to their usual weekend routines, strolling through still-damp pathways in Central Park and city sidewalks.

Traffic was again flowing through highways that had been at a standstill just a day before, with water above car tires and forcing some drivers to abandon their vehicles.

Flight delays at LaGuardia Airport could no longer be blamed on downpours and flooding, which forced the closure of one of the airport's three terminals for several hours before resuming later that night.

Some service interruptions continued Saturday throughout the city's subway system, which had been in complete chaos the day before because of flooded tracks.

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