The remnants of Hurricane Ida blew into the northeast on Wednesday night and caused the deaths of nine people as historic rains led to urban flash floods in New York City and surrounding areas.
The NYPD confirmed the deaths of nine people from Wednesday's storm, and officials have confirmed six other people died in New Jersey. According to the Associated Press, officials outside of Philadelphia have reported “multiple fatalities,” adding that no additional details were immediately available.
Those deaths bring Ida's death toll to at least 23, though officials in Louisiana and Mississippi expect that number to continue to rise in the coming days.
Videos shared on social media show water roaring down New York City subway station steps and onto tracks. Other videos showed subway riders standing on seats in a train that had been flooded with water. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all service amid the flooding, and the MTA is only operating at limited capacity as of Thursday morning.
Highways leading in and out of New York were also flooded, leaving motorists stranded in their cars.
Among the nine people killed in flooding in New York City on Wednesday include a 50-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman and a 2-year-old male who were all found at the same residence on 64th street.
Across the Hudson River in Elizabeth, New Jersey, five people were found dead in an apartment complex. An additional person died in Passaic, New Jersey when a car was caught in floodwaters.
The remnants of Ida also sparked what are believed to be tornadoes in the Philadelphia area. The National Weather Services says "a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" touched down in Woodberry Heights, New Jersey. Video taken from Burlington Township, New Jersey, located just outside of Philadelphia, shows the formation of funnel clouds.
Thousands of people in the Mid-Atlantic are currently without power. According to PowerOutages.us, nearly 100,000 customers in Pennsylvania are without electricity, in addition to about 60,000 in New Jersey, 42,000 in New York and 17,000 in Connecticut.
In a press conference on Thursday, top New York City and state officials called for the passage of President Joe Biden's infrastructure passage and budget plan, which would provide more federal funding to fix the city's aging sewer and drainage systems as well as provide funding to combat climate change.
"Woe is us if we don't recognize that these changes are due to climate change. Woe is us if we don't do something soon," Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
In the south, recovery efforts from Ida are already underway, though much is left to be done. Lights were turned on in some areas of New Orleans on Wednesday, though 900,000 customers are still without power.
Officials believe it could take weeks for some in the state to have electricity restored to their homes. In the meantime, officials are asking those who evacuated to stay away.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit the New Orleans area on Friday to tour the damage.
