At Least 9 Dead as Ida Swamps New York City Area

The New York area awoke to a flood-ravaged and largely paralyzed landscape on Thursday, after record-shattering rains brought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida left a trail of death and damage across several states, shut down transit and exposed anew the region’s vulnerability to a changed climate.

At least nine people died as waters rose in basements. A tornado in southern New Jersey leveled a stretch of houses. Some drivers have reportedly been stranded since Wednesday night, more than 200,000 homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania remain without power, and states of emergency have been declared across the region.

The rains on Wednesday — more than half a foot in just a few hours — turned streets and subway platforms into rivers and sent emergency responders in boats rescuing people from the rooftops of cars and from flooded homes. Hundreds of people on trains and subways were evacuated.

Though the rain is done and skies are clearing, most of the city’s subway lines remain wholly or partly suspended, along with commuter rail service across the region. Airports were open but hundreds of flights were canceled. Rescues continued Thursday morning, and as the waters recede, the authorities fear they will find more victims.

In New York City, the dead ranged in age from a 2-year-old boy to an 86-year-old woman, the police said. Some drowned in basement apartments in Queens, where a system of makeshift and mostly illegally converted living spaces has sprung up. Another death occurred in Passaic, N.J., where the Passaic River breached its banks and fish flopped in the streets.