At least 22 people were killed as the remnants of Hurricane Ida battered New York and New Jersey with tornadoes, record rain and flooding that left the area deluged and under states of emergency on Thursday.
Videos on social media showed cars submerged on highways and water pouring into subway stations and homes after a wind-driven downpour shattered rainfall records and prompted an unprecedented flash flood emergency for New York City.
Four women, three men and a 2-year-old boy died in five separate flooding incidents in the city, police said. In New Jersey, 14 other people were killed, including five residents at the Oakwood Plaza Apartments complex in Elizabeth and one person whose body was recovered in Passaic.
It was unclear where the residents were or how they died, a spokesperson for Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage confirmed to NBC News Thursday.
In Passaic, firefighters recovered the body from a vehicle that went underwater when it was caught in floodwaters near the Passaic River, the town’s mayor said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters that officials were still assessing the damage and “uncovering the true depth of the loss.”
“I don’t want this to happen again,” she said during a news conference Thursday. “We haven’t experienced this before, but we should expect it the next time.”
Hochul pledged investments in infrastructure after the city was issued its first flash flood emergency warning Wednesday night. The governor previously declared a state of emergency, which allows for state aid.
In New York City, officials urged nonemergency vehicles to stay off the streets after a “travel ban” ended at 5 a.m. ET.
Central Park and Newark, New Jersey, each saw more than 3 inches of rain in one hour — the most ever recorded in an hour there, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said.
The daily rainfall total at Central Park was 7.13 inches Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 3.84 inches set in 1927, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, Newark logged 8.41 inches of rain, surpassing its record of 2.22 inches in 1959.
Between 6 and 10 inches of rain fell over several hours, the National Weather Service said, and New York City streets were inundated with water. -BBC