Death toll rises after Ida's remnants hit Northeast
The remnants of Hurricane Ida caused "multiple fatalities" in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia, according to county spokesperson Kelly Cofrancisco, in addition to at least nine other fatalities in New York and New Jersey.
No additional details were immediately available about the deaths in Pennsylvania and county officials planned to hold a briefing later.
Major flooding along the Schuylkill River swamped highways, submerged cars and disrupted commuter rail service in the Philadelphia area. In a tweet, city officials predicted "historic flooding" on Thursday as river levels continue to rise.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped historic rain over New York City, with at least nine deaths linked to flooding in the region as basement apartments suddenly filled with water and freeways and boulevards turned into rivers, submerging cars. Water poured into subway tunnels as catastrophic flooding, which scientists have warned likely will be more common with man-made global warming, came to America's largest city.
At least nine deaths were reported in New York City and New Jersey. A New York City police spokesperson says a total of eight people died when they became trapped in flooded basements.
The rain ended by daybreak Thursday as rescuers searched for more stranded people and braced for potentially finding more bodies.
"We're enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said while declaring a state of emergency in New York City late Wednesday.
Subway stations and tracks became so flooded that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all service. Videos posted online showed subway riders standing on seats in cars filled with water. Janno Lieber, the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, said at least 17 trains were stranded between stations overnight. All of the riders were evacuated safely, he told TV station NY1 on Thursday.
The toll Ida has taken in the U.S. also included at least two tornadoes in the midAtlantic where homes were now rubble in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. Police in Connecticut are investigating a report of a person missing due to the flooding in Woodbury.
At least one death was reported in New Jersey as Passaic Mayor Hector Lora said a 70year-old man was swept away. "His family was rescued, they were all in the same car. Unfortunately, the car was overtaken by the waters, and the firefighters who were being dragged down under the vehicle were unable to get him out," Lora told WCBS-TV.
Authorities were trying to confirm at least one other death in the city. Heavy winds and drenching rains collapsed the roof of a U.S. Postal Service building in New Jersey and threatened to overrun a dam in Pennsylvania.
In New York, the rain brought transportation in large parts of the bustling city to a halt. Officials banned travel for all but emergency vehicles until early Thursday. FDR Drive in Manhattan, and the Bronx River Parkway were under water. Garbage bobbed in the water rushing down streets. Some subway and rail service had resumed Thursday morning.