Death toll rises to 49 after Ida batters East Coast

The death toll rose to 49 on Friday as the East Coast cleaned up after the remnants of Ida unleashed destructive tornadoes and record rain and floods.

The toll was highest in New Jersey, where 25 people died in heavy rains late Wednesday and early Thursday, Gov. Phil Murphy said on NBC's "TODAY" show. He said six more people were missing.

A majority of the people who lost their lives drowned after their vehicles were caught in flash floods, with some dying in their submerged cars and others getting swept away after exiting into fast-moving water.

Seventeen people died in New York, with 13 of the deaths in a stunned New York City. Another five people died in Pennsylvania and a state trooper was killed in Connecticut when his car, too, was swept away. In Maryland, a 19-year-old man died after flooding that displaced 150 people from an apartment building Wednesday morning, police said.

President Joe Biden on Thursday issued emergency declarations in New York and New Jersey, allowing for federal aid. The governors of both states had earlier issued states of emergency.