Photos: Ida leaves damage from the Gulf to the Northeast
Nexstar Media Wire
Greta Thunberg, 16, a Swedish environmental activist, sails into New York harbor aboard the Malizia II, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. The zero-emissions yacht left Plymouth, England on Aug. 14. She is scheduled to address the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Relatives of one of the victims that died during an attack at a nightclub, cry outside the Veracruz state prosecutors office in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. The attack killed more than 20 people and injured about a dozen. Authorities said it was apparently overseen by a man who had been recently arrested but released. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
FILE - In this July 16, 2019, file photo, Gary Jones, United Auto Workers President, speaks during the opening of their contract talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Auburn Hills, Mich. On Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019, an FBI spokesperson confirmed federal agents are searching Jones' suburban Detroit home apparently another step in an investigation of union corruption. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
This photo from an Arizona Department of Transportation remote camera shows a digital sign over Interstate 10 in the Phoenix metropolitan area that seeks the public's help in locating escaped murder suspects,Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. These signs on Arizona highways alert the public that a married couple suspected in a Tucson killing remained at large after overpowering two guards and escaping while being extradited from New York to Arizona. Tucson police said 56-year-old Blane Barksdale and 59-year-old wife Susan Barksdale escaped Monday evening in Blanding, Utah. (Arizona Department of Transportation via AP)
An elderly Kashmiri man selling sandals walks through a closed market in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. India's government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, imposed a security lockdown and communications blackout in Muslim-majority Kashmir to avoid a violent reaction to the Aug. 5 decision to downgrade the region's autonomy. The restrictions have been eased slowly, with some businesses reopening, some landline phone service restored and some grade schools holding classes again, though student and teacher attendance has been sparse. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
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NEW YORK (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped historic rain over New York City, with at least nine deaths linked to flooding in the region as basement apartments suddenly filled with water and freeways and boulevards turned into rivers, submerging cars.
Water poured into subways tunnels as catastrophic flooding, which scientists have warned likely will be more common with man-made global warming, came to America’s largest city.
At least eight deaths were reported in New York City and New Jersey. A New York City police spokesperson says a total of eight people died when they became trapped in flooded basements.
The rain ended by daybreak Thursday as rescuers searched for more stranded people and braced for potentially finding more bodies.
“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said while declaring a state of emergency in New York City late Wednesday.
Subway stations and tracks became so flooded that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all service. Videos posted online showed subway riders standing on seats in cars filled with water.
Janno Lieber, the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said at least 17 trains were stranded between stations overnight. All of the riders were evacuated safely, he told TV station NY1 on Thursday.
The toll Ida has taken in the U.S. also included at least two tornadoes in the mid-Atlantic where homes were now rubble in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. Police in Connecticut are investigating a report of a person missing due to the flooding in Woodbury.
At least one death was reported in New Jersey as Passaic Mayor Hector Lora said a 70-year-old man was swept away.