Death toll surpasses 40 after Ida’s remains blind northeast

NEW YORK (AP) – A stunned U.S. east coast faced rising death tolls, swollen rivers, tornado damage and continued calls for help on Thursday after the the remains of Hurricane Ida ravaged the region with record rains drowning more than 40 people in their homes and cars.

In an area that had been warned of potentially fatal flash floods but had not prepared for such a hurricane hit, the storm killed at least 45 people from Maryland to Connecticut on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

At least 23 people have died in New Jersey, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy said. At least 12 people in New York City, police said, including one in a car and 11 in flooded basement apartments that often serve as relatively affordable housing in one of the country’s most expensive housing markets. The Westchester County suburb has reported three deaths.

Authorities have said at least five in Pennsylvania, including one killed by a fallen tree and another who drowned in his car after helping his wife escape, authorities said. Connecticut State Police sergeant Brian Mohl perished after his cruiser was swept away. Another death has been reported in Maryland.

In New York City, Sophy Liu said she tried using towels and trash bags to keep water out of her first-floor apartment in Queens, but the flooding hit her chest in only half an hour. She woke her son up from bed and put him in a life jacket and inflatable swim ring.

The door stuck when she tried to open it, possibly due to the water pressure, she said. She called two friends who helped her let go.

“I was obviously scared, but I had to be strong for my son. I had to calm him down, ”she recalls Thursday as forensic scientists removed three bodies from a house down the street.

In another part of Queens, water quickly filled Deborah Torres’ first floor apartment to her knees as her landlord frantically urged her neighbors downstairs – who included a baby – to come out, a- she declared. But the water rushed inside so hard that she assumed they weren’t able to open the door. All three residents are deceased.

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“I have no words,” she said. “How can something like this happen?”

Ida’s remains maintained a soggy core, then merged with a storm front and soaked the Interstate 95 corridor, meteorologists said. Similar weather conditions have already followed hurricanes, but experts said they were slightly exacerbated by climate change – warmer air holds more rain – and urban environments, where expansive pavement keeps water out. seep into the ground.

The National Hurricane Center had warned since Tuesday of the potential for “significant and potentially fatal flash floods” and major river floods in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Yet New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the force of the storm took them by surprise.

“We didn’t know that between 8:50 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. last night, the skies would literally open up and bring the water level of Niagara Falls to the streets of New York,” said Hochul, a Democrat who became governor last week after the resignation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

De Blasio, also a Democrat, said he got a forecast of 3-6 inches (7.5-15cm) of rain for the day on Wednesday. The city’s Central Park ended up growing to 3.15 inches in just one hour, surpassing the previous one-hour record of 1.94 inches (5 cm) during tropical storm Henri August 21.

Wednesday’s storm ultimately dumped more than 9 inches (23 cm) of rain in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and almost as much on Staten Island in New York.

In Washington, President Joe Biden assured residents of the Northeast that federal first responders were on the ground to help clean up.

In New York City, some highways were flooded, trash spilled in the streets and water cascaded through the city’s subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and interrupting service until the early hours of the morning. Videos online showed runners standing on seats in flooded cars. All of the runners were safely evacuated, officials said.

In one development in Queens, water filled the patio below of a basement apartment, then passed through a glass door, trapping a 48-year-old woman in 6 feet (2 meters) of water. The neighbors tried unsuccessfully for an hour to save her.

“She was screaming, ‘Help me, help me, help me!’ We all came to her aid trying to get her out, “Deputy Building Superintendent Jayson Jordan said, but” the push of the water was so strong. “

Residents said they had been complaining for years about flooding on another street in Queens, where a woman and her 22-year-old son died in a basement apartment. Her husband and the couple’s other son were only spared because they got out to move a car, next door neighbor Lisa Singh said.

“No one should have to go this route. I feel like it was 100% preventable, ”she said.

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, rain and river flooding at an apartment complex killed four people and forced 600 from their homes, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said.

Greg Turner, who lives elsewhere in the northern New Jersey town, said his 87-year-old mother started calling 911 at 8 p.m. when water began to rise in her apartment. The high water prevented him and his brother from reaching it.

As midnight approached, the water reached his neck, he said. Rescuers eventually cut the floor of the apartment above and took her to safety.

“She lost everything,” Turner said as he walked to a bank to buy money to buy clothes and shoes for his mother.

In the borough of Milford, New Jersey, authorities said they found the body of a man in a car buried up to the hood in dirt and rocks.

The fierce storm also spawned at least seven tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service. One chopped trees on Cape Cod, another tore off part of a high school roof in suburban Philadelphia, and yet another smashed houses and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

“It just happened and tore apart,” said resident Jeanine Zubrzycki, 33, who hid in her basement with her three children as their house shook and the lights flickered.

“And then you could just hear people crying,” said Zubrzycki, 33, whose house was damaged but livable.

Record-breaking flooding along Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River inundated homes, highways and commercial buildings, even as meteorologists warned the rivers likely wouldn’t peak for a few more days. The riverside community of Manayunk has remained largely underwater.

The Schuyilkill reached levels not seen in over 100 years in Philadelphia, where firefighters were still receiving calls about minor building collapses and people trapped in flooded cars Thursday morning. Managers at a 941-unit apartment complex near the river have ordered residents to evacuate, citing “deteriorating” conditions after water rushed into the parking garage and pool areas .

In the suburb of Bucks County, several firefighters had to be rescued after rushing floodwaters jammed a lifeboat against a bridge pillar, state emergency management director Randy Padfield said.

Others couldn’t escape the flooding, including Donald Bauer, who was returning home to Perkiomenville with his wife after attending their daughter’s volleyball game at DeSales University near Allentown.

Their SUV stalled in the water and floated into a house, smashing the rear windshield, said Darby Bauer, who was on the phone with his parents when the engine broke. Donald Bauer helped his wife, Katherine, escape the broken windshield and urged her to leave, their son said.

She latched onto a tree and watched the rising waters take the SUV out of sight, he said. She was rescued about an hour later and hospitalized.

Donald Bauer, a 65-year-old retired school bus driver, “had one of the biggest hearts we know,” his son said. “He was selfless until his last act.”

Authorities used boats to rescue people in places ranging from North Kingstown, Rhode Island, to Frederick County, Maryland, where 10 children and a driver were pulled from a school bus caught in the rising waters.

On Sunday, Ida hit Louisiana as the fifth strongest storm to ever hit the Americas, leaving 1 million people without power, possibly for weeks.

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Porter reported from Elizabeth, New Jersey. AP reporters Karen Matthews in New York; Maryclaire Dale in Mullica Hill, New Jersey; Seth Borenstein and Darlene Superville in Washington; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Pat Eaton-Robb in Columbia, Connecticut; Mark Pratt in Waltham, Massachusetts; Michael Catalini and Shawn Marsh in Trenton, New Jersey; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant, New Jersey; Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.