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The death toll drastically rose on Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the Northeast, causing historic flooding, tornado damage and record-breaking rain. The storm killed at least 45 people from Maryland to Connecticut from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. On Sunday, Ida first struck Louisiana as a hurricane, becoming the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland, and leaving 1 million people without power for weeks.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people died in the state. At least 12 people in New York City were killed, and suburban Westchester County, NY reported at least three deaths. Officials reported at least five deaths in Pennsylvania, and in Connecticut a state police sergeant was killed, while another death was reported in Maryland.
Ida’s remnants merged with a more traditional storm front to drop massive amounts of rain on the Interstate 95 corridor, meteorologists said. The National Hurricane Center had warned since Tuesday of the potential for “significant and life-threatening flash flooding” in the mid-Atlantic region and New England. Wednesday’s storm ultimately dumped over 9 inches of rain in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and nearly as much on New York City’s Staten Island. The storm also spawned at least seven tornadoes. According to the National Weather Service, tornadoes were confirmed in Cape Cod, suburban Philadelphia and Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.
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