The number of deaths from the floods caused early Thursday (02.09.2021) in the northeast of the US by the tailwinds of Hurricane Ida increased to 42 after the governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, announced that only in that region had died 23 people.
“Most of these deaths were individuals who were trapped in their vehicles by flooding,” Murphy said on Twitter.
As reported by local authorities and media so far, another 12 people died in New York City from the accumulation of water, 3 in the New York county of Westchester, 3 in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and one in Connecticut.
Ida’s passage through the United States left a trail of death and destruction. The phenomenon, which as a hurricane caused great devastation in the southern United States and then became a posttropical cyclone that hit several states in the northeast of the country on Thursday, preliminarily left at least 23 dead due to torrential rains, rapid flooding and hurricane-force winds.
Police said nine people were killed in New York City, mostly in the Queens and Brroklyn neighborhoods, while four were killed in Elizabeth, in neighboring New Jersey, a mayor’s spokesman told AFP. In Passaic, neighboring New Jersey, Mayor Hector Lora reported a death. Three other people were reported dead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
New York victims nearly all drowned “in residential homes and basements” due to flooding. A similar situation has occurred in New Jersey, where Elizabeth’s mayor’s office detailed that the deceased in the residential building – three relatives and a neighbor – drowned, while the New Jersey radio station 101.5 reported that most of the other victims in the state were trapped in their vehicles. As they access more areas, authorities have been finding more victims.
Broke records
The U.S. Weather Service (NWS) recorded an all-time record of 80 mm of rain in one hour in Central Park. Flooding blocked major traffic routes in several districts, including Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports. A video showed a flooded terminal in Newark.
The magnitude has been measured today in the statements of the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, who said that it is “the first time that there has been a sudden waterspout of this proportion” in the area and compared it to having “Niagara Falls on the street.” Ida had already left six dead in the southern United States and due to the strength it has demonstrated, it became a “historic” weather event, according to experts, that broke all records for fallen water.
