New York Police Department reported that at least eight people were killed when their basement apartments flooded. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, five people were found dead after an apartment complex flooded, according to a city spokesperson.
New York and New Jersey are under a state of emergency after historic rainfall, powerful winds and tornadoes from Storm Ida lashed the region.
The death toll rose to at least 43 people on Thursday in New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, including a two-year-old boy.
A 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by flood waters in Passaic, New Jersey. Firefighters in scuba gear attempted to reach trapped drivers in places where the water level reached up to six feet.
“His family was rescued, they were all in the same car. Unfortunately, the car was overtaken by the waters, and the firefighters who were being dragged down under the vehicle were unable to get him out,” Passaic mayor Hector Lora told CBS2.
Subway, train and bus services have been suspended across the city while cars were submerged in water on major roads like FDR Drive and the Bronx River Parkway.
Hundreds of flights have been delayed at New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports, while at Newark videos showed lower levels of the airport and baggage claim filling up with water.
Subway riders were forced to climb on to seats as water gushed into carriages while torrents poured down stairwells and along platforms. At the US Open tennis championships in Queens, rainfall cascaded through the roofed stadium.
The devastating conditions pummelled New York after Ida slammed into Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of up to 150mph which left more than one million people without power.
The storm was downgraded but continued to wreak havoc with deluges across the country on its slow march north.
Ida is the joint-fifth strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in what’s shaping up to be a highly active Atlantic season.
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