NEW YORK (AP) — 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 subways 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 mid-Atlantic 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 70-year-old man was swept away.