In a region that hadn’t expected a serious blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 18 people from Maryland to New York on Wednesday night.
A stunned U.S. East Coast woke up Thursday to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which walloped the region with record-breaking rain days after hitting the Gulf Coast as one of the strongest hurricanes on record to strike the U.S. In a region that hadn’t expected a serious blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 18 people from Maryland to New York on Wednesday night as basement apartments suddenly filled with water, rivers and creeks swelled to record levels and roadways turned into car-swallowing canals. Nine people died in New York City, many when they became trapped in flooded basements, police and Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Four people were found dead in an apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the city’s mayor and spokesperson told local media, correcting an earlier report of five. Outside Philadelphia, officials reported “multiple fatalities,” saying no additional details were immediately available. A 19-year-old man was killed in the flooding at the Rockville complex early Wednesday, police said. In Connecticut, an on-duty state trooper and his cruiser were swept away in flood waters Thursday morning in Woodbury, and the trooper was taken to a hospital, state police and local authorities said. Deborah Torres, who lives on the first floor of a building where three people died in a basement apartment in New York City’s Queens borough, said water rapidly filled her own apartment to her knees. The landlord frantically urged her neighbors below to get out, she said. “The water pressure was so fast and strong, so I think they couldn’t open the door either way because this is like a pool,” she said. “I don’t know how that happened. It was so fast.” The ferocious storm also spawned tornadoes, including one that ripped apart homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia. Water from record rainfall cascaded into New York City subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and forcing the cancelation of service throughout the night and early morning. Videos online showed riders standing on seats in cars filled with water. All riders were evacuated safely, officials said. Thursday morning, the nation’s largest city was slow to recover 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 Wednesday night, far surpassing the previous recorded high of 1.94 inches (4.92 centimeters) that fell in one hour during Henri on Aug.21. Scientists have warned such weather extremes will be more common with man-made global warming.
