The death toll rises to 45 in the eastern United States after flash floods in the region

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Natural Disaster Updates

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At least 45 people were killed in six states in the eastern United States after the remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated with record rains that caused flooding across the region late Wednesday.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people have died in his state, most of them after being trapped in cars that were “overrun by water.” Four bodies were also found in an apartment complex in the coastal city of Elizabeth.

Twelve of the dead were in New York City. Police said 11 of them died in flooded basements and another in a car. Three others died in the nearby suburb of Westchester.

A Connecticut state police sergeant also died after his cruiser was swept away by floodwaters. Authorities in Pennsylvania have reported five deaths, including one who was killed by a falling tree while deaths have also been reported in Maryland and Virginia.

Major New York City transportation systems were affected by the storm, as flooding forced subways to stop overnight, stranding passengers on underground trains, Urban Transportation Authority’s acting chief Janu Lieber told CNN.

The MTA urged passengers to avoid non-essential travel “until further notice” as it struggles to return the system to full capacity. Service was still “very limited” on Thursday afternoon.

The storm’s ability to paralyze the country’s most densely populated area in a matter of hours showed how New York’s infrastructure is still ill-prepared for the stronger and wetter storms linked to climate change.

Images of water billowing in parked car windows, pouring down the stairs of subway stations, and seeping into the basements of homes across the New York metropolitan area have circulated on social media.

A travel warning requiring non-emergency vehicles to stay off the roads remained in effect Thursday.

“What we have to realize is the surprise and brutality of storms now,” said Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City. “It’s different… This is the biggest wake-up call we could ever receive. We will do a lot of things differently and quickly.”

Officials said the flood emergency for all five New York boroughs was the first ever issued by the National Weather Service. The storm also broke the record for the most rainfall observed in Central Park in one hour, dropping 3.15 inches. The previous record was set less than two weeks ago by Tropical Storm Henry.

President Joe Biden said he has spoken with the governors of New York and New Jersey to get updates on the flooding and to offer federal assistance with rescue and clean-up efforts.

“There’s a lot of damage done, and I’ve made it clear to the governors that my FEMA team is on the ground and ready to provide all the assistance needed,” Biden said.

Newark Liberty International Airport said it experienced “extreme flooding,” canceled more than 300 flights, and briefly vacated an air traffic control tower due to high winds.

Amtrak suspended all rail services between Boston and Washington on Thursday.

Tennis matches at the US Open in Queens were halted as torrential rain slashed the roof of Louis Armstrong’s retractable stadium. Nearly 200,000 utility customers lost electricity due to the storm, while homes in Molica Hill, New Jersey, were devastated by a tornado.

Hurricane Ida reached Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, the most powerful storm to hit the area since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Entergy, Louisiana’s largest electrical utility, has restored some service, but hundreds of thousands of customers remain in the dark and those are in the most areas. Affected facing weeks without electricity.

Insurance damages from Ida are expected to be significant. Credit rating agency Fitch predicted earlier this week that the total cost to insurers and reinsurers could range between $15 billion and $25 billion, likely exceeding the impact of this year’s winter storm Urey, which devastated Texas’ power grid, but It’s still well below $65 billion. from Katrina.

Boston-based disaster modeling firm Karen Clark & ​​Associates has published a $18 billion “rapid estimate” of claims from Ida, including $40 million in the Caribbean and the rest in wind and storm losses in the United States.

“It will take several months or more for the financial landscape of this event to fully develop,” insurance broker Aon said Monday. She added that uninsured costs would also be significant, including damage to infrastructure as well as property not covered by the floods.

The insurance industry is already reeling after the worst start to the year due to natural disasters in a decade, as the effects of urban development and climate change combined to deliver a $40 billion hit in the first half from events like wildfires and winter storms.

Additional reporting by Justin Jacobs in Houston

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