Flash flood warnings and watches stretched across parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as severe thunderstorms brought heavy rain. Here's the latest.

But as the heat lingered into the evening, the service began posting flood watches. By the afternoon of July 31, more than 50 million people in the region are forecast to be under a flood watch.

In a separate incident, emergency responders rescued an 8-year-old boy standing atop a submerged car and a 2-year-old and woman trapped inside.

A 13-year old boy in Maryland died after being swept into a storm drainage pipe and drowned during a heavy rainstorm. The boy had been playing in floodwaters.

The New York City area and New Jersey declared states of emergency Thursday as heavy rain with the potential for flash floods approached the region. Weather is expected to dump several inches of rain in the New York-New Jersey areas as residents make their evening commutes home.