At least Eight people have died as a result of the storms caused by Hurricane Ida in New York and New Jersey and thus rises to 16 the total number of deceased since the meteorological phenomenon made landfall last Sunday in the southern United States. The cities of the east coast of the country registered floods and declared a state of emergency.
In New York City, the police reported that there have been seven of the deceased, while in the nearby state of New Jersey one more person has died, according to the mayor of the city of Passaic, Hector Lora.
State of emergency
The rain started after nine at night and shortly after New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a “state of emergency” after they registered “major” floods in all counties bordering the city, that could affect about 20 million people.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency and a tornado watch was issued in Philadelphia.
Subways, flights and underwater routes
The New York subway had to be interrupted because the rains flooded stations, tracks and platforms.
Too flights were canceled at New York airports from Newark, LaGuardia and JFK. A video showed a flooded terminal in Newark.
“Seek shelter NOW. Flying objects will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Move to a lower floor and stay away from windows,” the New York City emergency information bureau tweeted.
In addition, the US Open match in which Argentine Diego Schwartzman faced South African Kevin Anderson was interrupted. Finally the Peque won by 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 and 6-4.
Weather alert
According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), it is the first state of emergency for Flash floods which is declared in the history of New York.
The rain began to fall at 9:30 p.m. (01:30 GMT) and according to several videos posted on Twitter by the NWS the streets of Brooklyn and Queens were flooded, making traffic impossible.
“Do not drive through flooded streets. We do not know how deep it is and it is very dangerous. Turn around,” urged the weather service.
The NWS also recorded a all-time record 80mm of rain in one hour in Central Park.
For its part, the National Hurricane Center warned that “post-tropical cyclone Ida brings widespread heavy rains and potentially fatal flash floods along and near its trajectory” and is expected to continue its path to the north of the country.
President Joe Biden will travel to Louisiana on Friday, where Hurricane Ida destroyed buildings and left more than a million homes without power.
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