Flood alerts issued from New York City to Washington as slow-moving storms swamp Connecticut

NEW YORK – Slow-moving thunderstorms fired up across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states on Sunday, packing threats of damaging wind gusts, large hail and flash flooding from New York City through Washington.The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch along the Interstate 95 corridor between New York and Virginia through Sunday night. The watch area includes New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.SOME EACH COAST BEACHES CLOSED TO SWIMMERS AS ERNESTO CHURNS OFFSHOREThroughout the day, a slow-moving train of storms dumped heavy rain in some areas, raising concerns for flash flooding across the region.Flash Flood Warnings were in place for northeast New Jersey and southeast New York through Sunday night.Flooding in New Jersey caused Amtrak to delay trains between New York and Philadelphia on Sunday evening. Significant flash flooding was reported in portions of western Connecticut on Sunday, prompting several road closures and water rescues in cities such as Stamford and Danbury. There were even reports of a mudslide in Danbury, which caused a major gas leak and forced evacuations in the Woodland Hills Complex, according to the NWS.A Flash Flood Emergency was later issued Sunday afternoon for central Fairfield and northern New Haven counties in Connecticut as rainfall rates approached 2-3 inches per hour on top of the 6-10 inches of rain that had already fallen since Sunday morning.WATER RESCUES UNDERWAY IN CONNECTICUT AFTER FLASH FLOODING CAUSES MUDSLIDES, WASHES OUT ROADSThe FOX Forecast Center said scattered thunderstorms will increase in coverage through the evening across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. The most intense storms will pose a risk of damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph and hail up to the size of ping pong balls (1.5 inches in diameter).HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERAny severe storms are expected to come to an end by late Sunday evening. However, a renewed severe weather threat looms for Monday in many of the same areas being threatened Sunday, along with the continued threat of flooding.Monday’s severe potential will be less than Sunday with a level 1 out of 5 risk for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.