At least 23 killed in NJ from Hurricane Ida’s flash floods
At least 23 people died overnight in New Jersey after remnants of Hurricane Ida caused powerful flash flooding in one of the deadliest storms in the Garden State’s history.
“I am saddened to report that, as of right now, at least 23 New Jerseyans have lost their life to this storm,” Gov. Phill Murphy tweeted Thursday afternoon. “The majority of these deaths were individuals who got caught in their vehicles by flooding and were overtaken by the water.”
“Our prayers are with their family members,” he added.
The tail-end of the hurricane tore through the state as it swirled up the I-95 corridor overnight— generating multiple tornadoes in South Jersey and heavy rainfall that inundated homes, swept away cars and overflowed rivers.
Four people, three family members and a neighbor, in the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex in Elizabeth were killed sometime overnight, city spokeswoman Kelly Martins told The Post.
The Elizabeth Fire Department discovered the dead bodies of a married couple — a 72-year-old woman and 71-year-old man — along with their 38-year-old son and 33-year-old neighbor on Thursday morning.
Officials originally confirmed a fifth person had died at the complex, which was “completely flooded out,” but they later revised that count and said only four had died, Martins said.
The first death in New Jersey was reported in Passaic. A 70-year-old man in his car with his family was killed after his vehicle was swept away, the city’s mayor Hector Lora confirmed on Facebook overnight.
“His family was rescued, they were all in the same car. Unfortunately, the car was overtaken by the waters, and the firefighters who were being dragged down under the vehicle were unable to get him out,” Lora told CBS.
“We had firefighters swimming in the streets, as if they were in the river… At certain areas, it was over 6 feet, making it impossible to even reach vehicles and confirm whether or not there were individuals inside.”
The mayor said at least two other people were unaccounted for in the town and divers were searching for them Thursday morning.
Deaths were also reported in Bridgewater and Hillsborough Township, where four people died in three separate incidents, a Somerset County official told The Post.
Another person was found dead in a white pickup truck in the middle of a creek in Milford, borough Mayor Henri Schepens said in an email.
Another person was found dead in a pickup truck in a creek in Milford Borough, according to the Associated Press.
The two people in Hillsborough, whose identities are yet to be released, are believed to have driven into the flood and their vehicles were overtaken by the rising water sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
Bridgewater police were also still searching for a missing person Thursday afternoon, the spokesman added.
In Middlesex County, two men were swept into a 36-inch storm sewer pipe Wednesday night, South Plainfield Mayor Matthew Anesh said in a release.
First responders were able to pull one of the men to safety after hearing cries for help from their friend, Anesh said.
The other body of the other man, who was identified as Dhanush Reddy, a 31-year-old from Edison, was found Thursday morning in a wooded area on the other end of the pipe in Piscataway, the mayor said.
In Maplewood, a frantic wife called 911 Wednesday night telling cops her 55-year-old husband went outside during the storm around 9:30 p.m. but hadn’t returned, according to police.
The man’s body was found Thursday morning just after 7 a.m., according to Police Chief James DeVaul.
Cops believe the man, whose name was not released, was clearing a drain of debris when he was “suddenly swept up into dangerous floodwaters,” DeVaul said.
An 83-year-old man was also killed in nearby Union Township when his car got stuck in floodwaters, police confirmed.
Deputy Chief Scott Breslow said in a statement when cops arrived just before midnight, the street was flooded with three to four feet of water. First responders pulled the man from the water and tried to save him, but he died at the scene.
The details of the other 10 storm-related fatalities were not immediately known.
An additional number of people are still missing following the historic storm and rescue teams across the state are out doing wellness checks and searching for those who are still unaccounted for.
Parts of the Garden State saw as much as 10 inches of rain overnight, forcing school closures and evacuations and leading to widespread power outages.
In New York, at least thirteen people were killed by flash floods, bringing the region’s death toll to 25 as of mid-Thursday afternoon.
With Post Wires
