Northeast braces for even more flooding as Ida-rocked region dries out
About 4.5 million people remained under flood warnings Friday after Hurricane Ida ravaged the northeast and left rivers surging – as police went door to door in search of potential victims and the cleanup continued.
As the scope of devastation continued to emerge, millions of people, mostly in New Jersey, braced for more floods with rivers and streams still rising in the wake of record rainfall.
The swollen Passaic River in the state’s north wasn’t expected to crest until Friday night.
“People think it’s beautiful out, which it is, that this thing’s behind us and we can go back to business as usual, and we’re not there yet,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy warned.
The National Weather Service warned there could be major flooding Friday in some northern New Jersey Rivers and officials were monitoring closely the Passaic, Hackensack, Pequannock and Rockaway rivers.
At least 49 people died across five states when the storm wreaked havoc and left a trail of destruction from Maryland to New York late Wednesday and into Thursday.
Many of the victims died when water cascaded into basement apartments in New York City and dozens drowned in New Jersey when their cars were caught up in flash floods.
New Jersey had the highest death toll with at least 25 dead and six people still missing, including a first-year Seton Hall student, Nidhi Rana, who was possibly last seen with a friend Ayush Rana in her hometown of Passaic, the university said in a statement.
Most victims in the Garden State died in their submerged cars or were swept away getting out of them.
Thirteen people were killed in New York City, with the majority drowning in their flooded basement apartments.
The NYPD made 69 water rescues during the flooding and pulled 90 people from stranded cars, and another 97 people had to be saved by cops during the storm, according to police figures.
Thirty of those rescues were at the US Open tournament in Flushing Meadows Queens, cops said.
Nearly 600 vehicles were also abandoned on city streets and highways and were either towed or moved by authorities.
In Westchester County, four people died, including two computer science professors at Iona College, a 69-year-old Mount Kisco Rabbi, and a Bronx man who was initially rescued Wednesday evening but went back out to try to get into his car. One person in the county is still missing and presumed dead, officials said.
A 19-year-old man in Maryland was found dead in a flooded apartment, a Connecticut State Police trooper was swept away in his car and at least five people were killed in Pennsylvania, including one who was hit by a tree.
Authorities across various states were still searching for possible victims and identifying the dead into Friday.
In New York City, cops were reviewing 911 calls from when the storm hit to pinpoint if people were in harm’s way and then check on them.
The cleanup also continued with people working to clear away debris from streets, haul away previously submerged vehicles, restore transportation services and survey the floodwater – and in some cases tornado — damage to their homes and businesses.
Scenes emerged Thursday of first responders going door-to-door via boat in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York to rescue people trapped in their homes after streets were turned into rivers. Satellite images showed entire neighborhoods in New Jersey underwater late Thursday.
Forecasters had warned of potential flash flooding in the region after Ida came ashore in Louisiana last Sunday and started moving northeast.
The ferocity of the storm, however, caught most by surprise.
President Joe Biden approved disaster declarations for New York and New Jersey late Thursday.
Both states spent billions in the wake of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy but much of the repairs were focused on protecting from sea surge and not rainfall.
New York’s new Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state needed to focus on storm water systems that can handle flash flooding.
With Post wires
