NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) -- Flash flooding that killed two people in New York City on Thursday was linked in part to an "overwhelmed sewer system" and unexpected record rainfall, according to the Office of Emergency Management.

"We had a forecast that was calling for 1 to 2 inches of rain over a period of eight hours and we got that in about eight minutes," said OEM Commissioner Zach Iscol in an interview with PIX11 Morning News on Friday.

Iscol said the city had worked to clear its catch basins in the days leading up to the storm, but high winds Thursday morning pushed fallen leaves right back into the drains. New Yorkers were seen trying to clear those drains in their neighborhoods amid Thursday's storm.

"The combination of that debris in the morning, getting pushed into the catch basin,

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