A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers and tornado damage on Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning at least 46 people in their homes and cars.
At least 48 people in five States died as storm water cascaded into people’s homes and engulfed automobiles, overwhelming urban drainage systems never meant to handle so much rain in such a short time.
Also read | Hurricane Ida remnants pound Northeast with rain, flooding, tornadoes
The toll was highest in New Jersey, where at least 25 people perished in heavy rains that began late Wednesday. A majority were people who drowned after their vehicles were caught in flash floods, some dying in their submerged cars, some getting swept away after exiting into fast-moving water.
Floodwaters and a falling tree also took lives in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York. In New York City, 11 people died when they were unable to escape rising water in basement apartments.
Search for the missing
Authorities said the work of searching for possible victims and identifying the dead wasn’t over.
Work also continued to haul away ruined cars, clean mud and debris from streets and restore service on bedraggled transportation systems. Parts of New York City’s subway system remained offline as workers repaired flood damage.
In Philadelphia, parts of the Vine Street Expressway, a major east-west artery through the heart of the city, were still under water on Friday morning as crews worked seven large pumps to drain it. An inch-thick layer of muck was left behind in the portions that were drying out. Pennsylvania’s transportation department had no estimate on when the heavily trafficked interstate would completely reopen.
Leaders in some States also pledged to examine whether anything could be done to prevent a catastrophe like this from happening again.
New Jersey and New York have both spent billions of dollars improving flood defences after Superstorm Sandy hit the region in 2012, but much of that work was focused on the coasts and tidal floodplains.
President Joe Biden has approved disaster declarations for both states.
