Flash flooding brought on by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed no less than 44 individuals.
New York, United States:
Flash flooding brought on by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed no less than 44 individuals within the New York space in a single day into Thursday, together with a number of who perished in basements throughout the “historic” climate occasion officers blamed on local weather change.
Record rainfall, which prompted an unprecedented flash flood emergency warning for New York City, turned streets into rivers and shut down subway companies as water cascaded down platforms onto tracks.
“I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” mentioned Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.
“It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,” he instructed AFP.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at LaGuardia and JFK airports, in addition to at Newark, the place video confirmed a terminal inundated by rainwater.
“We’re all in this together. The nation is ready to help,” President Joe Biden mentioned forward of a visit Friday to the southern state of Louisiana, the place Ida earlier destroyed buildings and left greater than 1,000,000 houses with out energy.
– ‘Historic climate occasion’ –
Flooding closed main roads throughout New Jersey and New York boroughs together with Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens, submerging vehicles and forcing the hearth division to rescue tons of of individuals.
At least 23 individuals died in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy instructed reporters.
“The majority of these deaths were individuals who got caught in their vehicles,” he mentioned.
A state trooper died within the neighboring state of Connecticut.
Thirteen died in New York City, together with 11 who couldn’t escape their basements, police mentioned. The victims ranged from the ages of two to 86.
“Among the people MOST at risk during flash floods here are those living in off-the-books basement dwellings that don’t meet the safety codes necessary to save lives,” lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
“These are working class, immigrant, and low-income people & families,” she added.
Three additionally died within the New York suburb of Westchester, whereas one other 4 died in Montgomery County outdoors Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, an area official confirmed.
Ida blazed a path of destruction north after slamming into Louisiana over the weekend, bringing extreme flooding and tornadoes.
“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 mentioned late Wednesday.
State emergencies have been declared in New York and New Jersey whereas the National Weather Service issued its first-ever emergency flash flood warning for New York City, urging residents to maneuver to larger floor.
“You do not know how deep the water is and it is too dangerous,” the New York department of the National Weather Service (NWS) mentioned in a tweet.
The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain in Central Park in simply an hour — beating a report set simply final month throughout Storm Henri.
The US Open was additionally halted as howling wind and rain blew beneath the corners of the Louis Armstrong Stadium roof.
– Lingering twister menace –
New Yorkers woke to clear blue skies Thursday as town edged again to life, however indicators of the earlier evening’s carnage weren’t far-off: residents moved fallen tree branches from roads as subway companies slowly resumed.
By Thursday night, round 38,000 houses in Pennsylvania, 24,000 in New Jersey and 12,000 in New York have been with out energy, in line with the web site poweroutage.us, a major lower from earlier within the day.
It is uncommon for such storms to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes because the floor layer of oceans warms because of local weather change.
The warming is inflicting cyclones to turn into extra highly effective and carry extra water, posing an growing menace to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.
“Global warming is upon us and it’s going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it,” mentioned Democratic senator Chuck Schumer.
In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Washington, a twister ripped up bushes and toppled electrical energy poles.
The NWS warned the specter of tornadoes would linger, with twister watches in impact for elements of southern Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and southern New York as Ida tracked north by way of New England.
A twister struck the favored vacationer vacation spot Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Thursday night.