18 killed as New York in state of emergency
THE remnants of Hurricane Ida have inundated large stretches of the northeastern US, killing at least 18 people in flooding from New York to Maryland as basements filled with water, rivers swelled to record levels and roads turned into canals.
Nine people died in New York City, many when they became trapped in flooded basements, police said, while four people were found dead in an apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the city’s mayor told local media.
Outside Philadelphia, officials reported ‘multiple fatalities’ but no additional details were immediately available. A 19-year-old man was killed in the flooding at the Rockville complex in Maryland, police said.
The storm also spawned tornadoes, including one that ripped apart homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.
Water from record rainfall cascaded into New York City subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and forcing the cancellation of services throughout the night and early morning.
Videos showed passengers standing on seats in carriages filled with water. All riders were evacuated safely, officials said.
The nation’s largest city is slowly recovering from catastrophic flooding that was reminiscent of Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
The National Weather Service recorded 3.15 inches of rain in Central Park in one hour on Wednesday night, far surpassing the previous recorded high of 1.94 inches that fell in an hour during Henri on August 21.
Major flooding along the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania swamped highways, submerged cars and disrupted rail services in the Philadelphia area.
In a tweet, city officials predicted ‘historic flooding’ on Thursday as river levels continued to rise, and the riverside community of Manayunk remained largely under water.
The rain in the tri-state area ended by daybreak on Thursday as rescuers searched for 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 in Wednesday.
Police in Connecticut were investigating a report of a person missing due to the flooding in Woodbury. In Passaic, New Jersey, a 70-year-old man was swept away after his family was rescued from their car.
Among the deaths reported in New York City, a 48-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man died after being found at separate residences, and a 43-yearold woman and a 22-year-old man died after being found inside a home.
Heavy wind and rain collapsed the roof of a US Postal Service building in New Jersey and threatened to overrun a dam in Pennsylvania.
The National Weather Service in New York issued its first-ever set of flash flood emergencies in the region on Wednesday night, alerts only sent in the most dangerous conditions.