Days after devastating entire communities in the US Gulf Coast, remnants of Hurricane Ida caused severe torrential rain and flooding to the Northeast, killing at least 46 across multiple states.
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What is Happening?
- Record high rainfall and flash floods brought on by Hurricane Ida remnants have killed at least 46 people in the Northeast of the US, many of which were trapped in flooded homes.
- Hurricane Ida, which is now the second most damaging hurricane to strike the state of Louisiana on record, has already devastated entire communities when it made landfall in the US Gulf Coast in late August.
- Days later, remnants of the storm have made its way to the Northeast, striking hard on states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, forcing all airline flights to be grounded.
- Heavy torrential rain overflowed New York City roads, trapping motorists in rapidly rising floodwaters, similar to what had occurred during the fatal floods in Henan, China earlier in July. A number of fatalities were reported as a result of it.
- Severe floods also submerged the city’s subway lines, leaving more than 800 commuters stranded in subway stations overnight due to suspended services and waiting for rescue teams to reach them.
- Many residents on the East Coast battled against water-logged basements and power outages.
- The Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy said in a tweet that there have been at least 23 fatalities in the state while at least 12 residents have perished in New York, including four people who lost their lives in a flooded public housing complex.
- Affected Northeast states recorded about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of rain where the city of Manhattan experienced a record high of 3.15 inches of rainfall within an hour, according to the National Weather Service.
- The extreme flooding and rainfall in the US has been the latest of devastating weather events that have occurred this summer, and all evidence of the uptake points to the effects of climate change.
- “Because of climate change, unfortunately, this is something we’re going to have to deal with great regularity,” said Kathy Hochul, New York’s newly inaugurated governor.
- Climate experts have recently warned in the IPCC Report that extreme weather events will become more frequent and intense if we do not take greater action in mitigating global warming and tackling the climate crisis.
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