Ida triggers massive flooding across Northeast

Hurricane Ida’s remnants drenched the Northeast last night, causing dangerous flash floods and tornadoes across several states.

Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania are reporting deaths from the storm, and search and rescue and clean up efforts are underway today. Meanwhile, parts of Louisiana — where Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane earlier this week — could be without power for weeks because of the storm.

Here’s a state-by-state look at Ida’s aftermath:

A motorist drives on a flooded expressway in Brooklyn, New York, early on Thursday, September 2, as the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the area.

New York

A United Automatic Fire Sprinkler employee helps clean up on September 2 after the business flooded in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

New Jersey

A person walks in floodwaters in Philadelphia on September 2.

Pennsylvania

A worker surveys damage in Annapolis, Maryland, on September 1.

Maryland

Tiffany Miller embraces her daughter Desilynn, left, and godchild Charleigh after the family returned to their destroyed home in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, on Wednesday, September 1.

Louisiana

In pictures: You can see more of how Ida’s remnants wreaked havoc in the Northeast here.

Three storm-related deaths are currently being investigated in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a county official said Thursday.

Arkoosh said they could not confirm any specific details about the deaths at the moment, but said one of the deaths was “due to structural damage from the storm in Upper Dublin.” She added that the other two fatalities are believed to have been from drowning – one death involved a car and the other death involved an individual inside a building that flooded. 

Some context: Arkoosh also said there have been at least 452 water rescues in the county as of 11 a.m. Thursday and that rescues will continue throughout the day.

There are “emergency personnel who are actively rescuing people at this very moment,” Arkoosh said. The next highest number of water rescues that the county had previously conducted was 135 during a storm last year, she said.

The county’s 911 call center received 6,583 calls for assistance from approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday through 11 a.m. Thursday, Arkoosh said. She added that this is three times the number of 911 calls they normally receive in a 24-hour period.

Montgomery County recorded about 8.25 inches of rain and many roads and bridges remain closed on Thursday. There are currently about 38,000 customers in the county still without electricity, Arkoosh said.

Amtrak service between Washington, DC, and Boston is canceled due to storm issues, the rail line said in its latest statement.

There is no Acela or Northeast Regional service between DC and Boston, and the Keystone service will operate between Philadelphia and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania only.

The Empire service is canceled today between Albany and New York City.

Amtrak crews are working to inspect and make any necessary repairs to rail infrastructure and will resume service as soon as possible.

Myra Castro

A single mother in New Orleans made an impassioned plea to federal officials to help residents who are dealing with the repercussions of Hurricane Ida without gas and power.

“We’re in the heat. We ain’t got no lights. It’s been like almost five days. I got to sleep in the car. My kids sare hot. We’re hungry,” Myra Castro said.

She told CNN’s Adrienne Broaddus that she’s been waiting in line for two hours to get gas.

“Can’t y’all help us? Somebody,” said the mother of four, clearly frustrated.

She said she and her kids are sleeping in their car because it’s too dark outside and she’s worried someone will rob them.

President Biden is expected to visit New Orleans on Friday to survey damage.

Watch:

Amrita Bhagwandin and Sahadeo Bhagwandin’s home in Queens, New York, flooded during last night’s historic rainfall in the Northeast.

“It’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to see what happens here when the water comes in. If you’re not in the right place, you’re a goner,” Sahadeo told CNN’s Evan McMorris-Santoro.

Amrita was at a loss for words.

Amrita wants the governor to assess the situation and compensate her to move out of her home. She said millions have been spent to fix the streets and nothing has worked.

Entergy Louisiana has restored power to at least 10 hospitals in the southeast portion of the state, according to a statement from the company.

On Thursday, Entergy said crews have restored power to hospitals that include “Tulane Medical Center, Tulane Medical School, VA Hospital, UMC, Ochsner Main Campus, East Jefferson, Lady of the Sea, Ochsner O’Neal Lane, Woman’s Hospital, Baton Rouge General Mid City.”

Wastewater infrastructure is also a priority for the area, the company said. Several sewer treatment plants had their power restored through repairs of generators.

Entergy has assessed about “58% of the impacted infrastructure in Louisiana,” the statement said, noting that the region has a unique landscape with land, water and marsh.

So far 167,000 customers have had their power restored since Hurricane Ida slammed into the region Sunday.

The energy company said this storm impacted nearly 950,000 Entergy customers, which is second only to Hurricane Katrina which knocked out power for 1.1 million.

The mayor of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, said homes near the Schuylkill River are mostly under water due to flooding caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Bridgeport is located along the Schuylkill River northwest of Philadelphia and is home to about 4,600 residents, according to its website.

The Schuylkill River rose 2 feet above a major flood stage and was recorded at 15.88 feet at 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning. That is almost 2 feet above the major flood stage, which is 14 feet. The river rose 12 feet between 4 p.m. ET and midnight on Wednesday.

At least 50 residents in Bridgeport have been rescued from floodwaters, Borough Manager Keith Truman told CNN earlier.

Barbee told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that there is not a definitive report on injuries yet, and rescue efforts are ongoing.

“It’s all hands on deck to do the work,” he said. “… We’re working with maybe 10 to 20 employees on the clock as well as volunteers. So it’s a very grassroots effort, but it’s been relatively successful and really brought us together.”

Officials are still compiling numbers of water rescues conducted across Pennsylvania due to flooding, but Randy Padfield, the state’s emergency management agency director, said Thursday that he estimated the number to be in the “thousands.”

Padfield added that officials in Montgomery County alone responded to at least 500 calls for water rescues. He said that the state has heard reports of a small number of deaths due to the storm, but noted that state officials have not yet confirmed this.

Padfield also said that in Bucks County, a group of firefighters conducting water rescues got “pinned up against a bridge pier by moving water” and ended up having to be rescued themselves. The firefighters were transported to a hospital for evaluation, Padfield said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that the state is slowly moving into “recovery mode” and noted that there was a “long road ahead of us.”

Melissa Batula, acting executive deputy secretary for the state’s transportation department, said that 376 roads remain closed statewide. Over 230 of those roads were closed due to flooding, but many were also closed due to downed trees and power lines.

Padfield added that in addition to extreme flooding, state officials also received reports of “destructive tornadoes” in the southeastern part of the state, but said the National Weather Service is working to confirm them.

As of Thursday morning, floodwaters had receded in most of the state, with the exception of the southeastern portion, Padfield said.

He added that state officials will be conducting damage assessments Thursday, including the use of “overflights” to surveil damage from above.

Water spills over the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Dozens of flood gauges across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast remain above major flood stage on Thursday afternoon, after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-shattering rainfall amounts over the region.  

From Maryland to Massachusetts, more than 80 flood gauges stand above flood level, with more than 25 above the highest designation, major flood stage, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Most rivers are cresting now or will be today, but many will remain above flood stage for another day or more as the area floods slowly drain into the streams and rivers.

During and immediately following the torrential downpour on Wednesday night, rivers experienced extremely rapid rises. The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia rose by 12 feet in only eight hours between 4 p.m. and midnight. Similarly, the Hackensack River in northern New Jersey rose 8 feet in only four hours last night as cities in the state experienced the most rain ever recorded in a single day. 

President Biden said on Thursday that he is deploying federal agencies to take a number of steps to prevent the risk of gas shortages and price increases in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

“I’ve directed the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, to use all of the tools at her disposal, including using the strategic petroleum reserve to keep gas flowing to the pumps,” he continued.

The President also said he “directed the Department of Transportation to renew a declaration to provide flexibility on how many hours a truck driver can drive,” allowing drivers “to provide transportation of gasoline and other types of fuel as well in addition to medical supplies and food.” 

Biden relayed that the Environmental Protection Agency has also “approved emergency waivers for Louisiana and Mississippi that will expand the supply of gasoline that can be sold in those states and increase availability at such a critical time.”

The President also outlined a number of other federal efforts in the wake of the storm, including directing the Federal Aviation Administration to authorize the use of surveillance drones to assess Ida’s damage to energy infrastructure and asking the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy “to immediately make available any satellite imagery provide in assessing the extent of the damage.”

“A few days ago, I asked the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, and my White House team to work with the cell phone companies to allow customers to use roaming services,” he added.

Connecticut has declared a state of emergency in response to massive and widespread flood damage. 

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a declaration of civil preparedness emergency, his office said in a news release Thursday morning. 

President Biden kicked off remarks on Hurricane Ida Thursday by addressing the storm’s impact in the Northeast after severe flooding and tornadoes overnight.

He said he has spoken with governors from two of the impacted states this morning.

“Record rain fell in these states. New York recorded more rain yesterday, the first day of September, than it usually sees the entire month,” he added. 

Biden noted it was the first time that the National Weather Service has issued a flood emergency in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, and praised first responders who helped people trapped in the Subway in New York. 

“We’re seeing the same story of devastation and heroism across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well,” he said. 

“There’s a lot of damage. I made clear to the governors: My team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is on the ground ready to provide all the assistance that’s needed,” he said. 

Biden noted that FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell oversaw the federal response after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. 

“She knows what to do,” he said of Criswell. 

Additionally, Biden noted that he had approved an emergency declaration for California as the Caldor Fire burns in the Lake Tahoe area. 

“This disaster declaration will help with evacuation, including sheltering and feeding for those who have been displaced. I want you to know who these firefighters are up close. Their courage is astounding. And the some of the bravest people I’ve ever known, known a lot of them. My heart goes out to them – my thanks,” he said. 

President Biden thanked first responders who worked overnight to rescue people trapped in floodwaters in remarks today on his administration’s response to Ida.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said, is ready to provide federal assistance.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, submerging some neighborhoods and causing widespread devastation. Some one million people are still without power in the Gulf coast and gas station outages are mounting in Louisiana’s two biggest cities.

Remnants of the storm unleashed dangerous flash floods and tornadoes across the Northeast Wednesday night, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Some “key areas” along the Mississippi River and in the Port of New Orleans remain closed following Hurricane Ida, the US Coast Guard said Thursday. 

The Coast Guard is working to identify “grounded and submerged vessels along banks of the Lower Mississippi River,” the statement says. Mariners are requested to immediately report any hazards to navigation.

Four residents drowned in an apartment complex on the Elizabeth River in Elizabeth, New Jersey, overnight Wednesday, according to Mayor Chris Bollwage.

Authorities are not yet naming the deceased, but identified them as a male and female in their 70s and a male and female in their 30s.

CNN reported Wednesday night that one person was killed in Passaic, New Jersey, which brings the New Jersey death total to five.

In other parts of the East Coast, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed 9 deaths and an additional death in Maryland is being preliminary referenced as a storm related death, though the autopsy is pending. The death toll after the flooding now stands at at least 15.

The Elizabeth residents lived in garden level apartments at the rear of the building next to the river, which rose more than eight feet at its height late Wednesday, the mayor said.

The relationships of the deceased is unclear, the mayor said, but the deaths occurred in more than one apartment unit.

The entire complex has been deemed uninhabitable by authorities, displacing about 600 people from their homes, Bollwage said.

The apartment complex is directly across the street from a local fire department headquarters, but rescue efforts were not able to commence for some time due to the swells that also impacted the fire department facility with about four feet of water.

A flooded street in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia on September 2.

At least 100 people have been rescued from floodwaters in Philadelphia so far as water rescues continue, Adam Thiel, Philadelphia Fire commissioner and director of the Office of Emergency Management, said Thursday.

Philadelphia experienced extreme flooding and damage due to the remnants of former Hurricane Ida, but there have not been any reported casualties due to the storm, Thiel said. However, he noted that first-responders and rescue teams are still working and that their storm response is still “very much an active incident.” 

Thiel added that the flooding that the city experienced Wednesday night into Thursday morning was “historic” and reached levels “not seen in more than 100 years.” The city has been conducting water rescues for the past 15 hours and is expected to continue for at least another 10 to 12 hours, he said. 

He also added that there were several minor building collapses throughout the city overnight, but said this is not uncommon for Philadelphia after a big rainstorm. 

All city offices are closed to the public Thursday due to the ongoing flood hazard, Mayor Jim Kenney said, noting that the city will only be providing “essential services” for the day.

“Extreme weather events like Ida are not isolated incidents,” Kenney said. The mayor added that city officials will continue to take steps to protect Philadelphia “for the climate of the future.”  

While two schools in Philadelphia experienced power outages and are closed Thursday, the majority of schools are open. Decisions on early dismissal for students are still being considered, Schools Superintendent Dr. William Hite said, calling it “an evolving situation.” 

Cars are abandoned on a flooded expressway in Brooklyn, New York, on September 2.

Yes, we knew Ida was taking aim at the Northeast. Yes, we knew there would be deadly flash flooding in the Northeast. Yes, there was an outlook issued by the Weather Prediction Center that predicted this. Yes, there was a flash flood watch issued ahead of time. Yes, there were flash flood emergencies issued.

And yet, we all were a bit stunned.

It wasn’t all about the total amount of rain. It was the amount of rainfall within such a small time frame which made the situation that much worse. Ida unleashed a 1 in 500-year rainfall event in just a few hours.

In three hours, 5.2 inches fell from the skies. In one hour, Central Park recorded its wettest hour on record with 3.15 inches from 8:51 to 9:51 p.m. ET. These weather records have been kept in Central Park since 1889.

You may remember that this record was just set less than two weeks ago, the evening of the “We Love NYC” concert, when almost 2 inches fell in one hour.

When you have this much rainfall, places are going to flood in that short amount of time.

Stay updated on extreme weather: Sign up for email alerts from CNN meteorologists and reporters in the field.

First responders pull residents in a boat as they rescue people trapped by floodwaters in Mamaroneck, New York, on September 2.

The mayor of Mamaroneck, New York, said that “hundreds” of rescues have taken place in his community because of dangerous flooding.

Mayor Tom Murphy said search-and-rescue efforts are focused in one low-lying neighborhood at the confluence of two rivers. The Westchester County town, a suburb of New York City, has a population of about 30,000.

He said “scores” of people still need to be rescued, and advised residents to stay off the roads. He’s “hopeful” that Gov. Kathy Hochul will send the National Guard to assist.

“Some areas we couldn’t get the equipment in to get people out of the second floor of their homes, because the first floor was inundated,” Murphy said.

Murphy said his town was supposed to get an Army Corps of Engineers plan “for at least 10 years now.” 

“The plan was developed and it was going to be implemented, but it got killed in the last administration in Washington. So I’m hoping that we could revive that plan under the Biden administration and really get some relief for our residents. You know, many of our residents have suffered through this for years, and they have kind of a PTSD every time they get intense rain … I don’t blame them. A lot of people lost everything they have,” Murphy said.  

Commuters walk into a flooded subway station in New York on September 2.

The governors of New York and New Jersey said improvements in infrastructure are needed after areas of the states experienced widespread, deadly flooding that upended transit systems. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said officials need to look ahead to anticipate storms as the climate crisis produces stronger storms.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said there need to be investments in infrastructure so the city and surrounding areas are better equipped to handle flooding. 

“This is the first time we’ve had a flash-flood event on this proportion in the city of New York and in the outlying areas. We haven’t experienced this before but we should expect it next time, and that means we have to continue investments in infrastructure, working in partnership with our federal government,” she said. 

“I don’t want this to happen again,” she added. 

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer also underscored the need for “resilient infrastructure.”

“The second deals with climate change and will reduce the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere by 50% by 2030. The first bill deals with infrastructure, and built into that infrastructure is something they have started fostering with [Superstorm] Sandy — that we don’t just build infrastructure, but we built resilient infrastructure, so when these floods or fires or anything else occurs, they are much more resistant,” he said. 

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said more people will die if improvements in infrastructure are not addressed to combat climate change.

“Queens needs to see much more infrastructure investment. We cannot wait until tomorrow. We need it today. These lives could have been saved if we had investment that we sorely needed a long time ago,” he said.

“If we do not address climate change, we will continue to lose lives” across the borough and state, Richards added.

CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this post.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy visited the tornado-damaged Mullica Hill neighborhood in Harrison Township on Thursday morning where he also spoke to media.

Strong winds could be heard while Murphy looked at homes, some of which sustained extreme damage as a result of a tornadoes brought on by Tropical Storm Ida.  

“An extraordinary, sadly tragic, historic 24 hours in New Jersey, there’s no other way to put it,” said Murphy. “Look on either side of us right now and the impact of these tornadoes that touched down in this county.”

Murphy also said he will send in a major disaster declaration request to FEMA on Thursday

Murphy mentioned that there were fatalities, not in Mullica Hill, but in the central and northern parts of the state. He didn’t provide any details on the deaths. 

The state will provide information about resources for residents that have been affected by the storm, and the aid will be from a combination of state, federal, and third party agencies like the Red Cross, Murphy said.

“We’re with you,” said Murphy. “This won’t be overnight by the way, this is going to be a longer road than any of us would like but we will not relent and we will stay with it every step of the way.” 

There have been at least 11 deaths in Maryland, New York and New Jersey in the wake of storm flooding.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed 9 deaths.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy cited multiple fatalities, without specifying numbers, however CNN has already reported 1 death on record from local authorities

An additional death in Maryland is being preliminary referenced as a storm related death, though the autopsy is pending.

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, appearing side by side with New York City officials, said she spoke with President Biden today who “guaranteed” full support in the wake of a “devastating” and “record-shattering” storm.

“This is the first time we’ve had a flash flood event of this proportion,” she said.

“We should expect it the next time,” she said.

The governor added that the human loss is “hard to imagine.”

For a state that experienced the devastating shore effects of Sandy, Hochul said that this time around, “where we had a vulnerability is in our streets.”

The governor noted that the draining systems need to be enhanced and infrastructure investments are paramount.

“I don’t want this to happen again,” Hochul said.

More than 100 people were rescued in Rockland and Westchester county alone, she said.

The two leaders – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the governor – appearing side by side, is a rare site for New Yorkers who had often seen former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and de Blasio compete in dueling news conferences

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer vowed to get all the federal aid that’s needed.

The New York officials spoke at the site where two individuals died in Queens after a partial wall collapsed

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the deadly flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida a “wake-up call” and said officials need to alter the way they approach the “suddenness, the brutality of storms now.”

De Blasio referenced the back-to-back storms — first the rain dumped less than two weeks ago by Henri and now the flooding from Ida — the city has endured.

De Blasio called Ida a “horrifying storm last night, unlike anything we have seen before,” and he thanked the first responders who rescued people yesterday. He also acknowledged the rescue and clean up work still to be done.

“People are going through hell,” he said. “They need help.”

Motorists wait in line for gas in New Orleans on August 31.

Gas station outages are mounting in Louisiana’s two biggest cities as the region struggles to recover from Hurricane Ida.

As of Thursday morning, a staggering 65.8% of the gas stations in Baton Rouge and 65.2% in New Orleans don’t have gas, according to outage reports compiled by GasBuddy. About one-third (33.7%) of the gas stations in Lafayette are similarly dry.

All of these figures are slightly higher than GasBuddy’s last update late Wednesday afternoon.

Analysts said these gas station outages are being driven by a combination of spiking demand as people drive around out of the region, and supply headaches caused by power outages. For example, tanker truck drivers often can’t fill up if there is no power at terminal racks that dispense fuel at refineries.

Drivers who find gas stations with fuel face very long lines that can last eight or nine hours. But industry executives urged residents to resist the urge to panic buy.

“This is not the time to hoard fuel and fill up every car and any available gas can or container,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores. “The system is currently stressed and will recover more quickly with normal buying patterns.”

Meanwhile, prices at the pump continue to creep higher. The national average hit $3.183 on Thursday, up from $3.146 a week ago, according to AAA.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are giving an update on the massive flooding that hit the state overnight.

A state of emergency was declared early Thursday morning as the Northeast region was slammed by torrential rain from the remnants of Ida, causing heavy flooding and reports of numerous water rescues.

In New York City, a travel ban was implemented until 5 a.m. ET, according to an emergency alert sent by Notify NYC. All non-emergency vehicles must stay off the road, the alert said.

Almost all the city subway lines were suspended due to flooding. The Metropolitan Transit Authority website said that only the “7” line and the Staten Island Railway were operating, with delays.

Rescuers have been removing people from flooded roadways and subways across New York City, the New York Fire Department said Thursday morning.

People are rescued in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, on September 2.

Aerial footage from WPVI showed rescue efforts underway in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, on streets that have become rivers along the Schuylkill River.

Bridgeport Borough is a town of about 4,600 residents, according to its website, and is located about 18 miles from Philadelphia.

Keith Truman, Bridgeport Borough manager, told CNN they have rescued at least 50 residents since last night’s flooding through multi-jurisdictional emergency management and first responders.

Truman said rescue efforts are ongoing, and that at this point there are only minor injuries reported and no reported casualties. He noted, however, that first responders still need to go through more areas.

“In terms of a sense of how many more are out there, we, I don’t know if I have a firm number ascertained, but at this point, we do have a large apartment building that still needs to be evacuated and they’ve been instructed to shelter in place,” he said. “And we still have a few more blocks of the residential area.”

CNN reported earlier today that the portion of Schuylkill River in Philadelphia rose 12 feet in just 8 hours between 4 p.m. ET and midnight ET. The forecast shows that the river could rise a few more feet, up to 18 feet, but levels appear to be leveling out some in the last hour or two, so it might not reach that high. 

Watch the rescue efforts taking place moments ago in Bridgeport:

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Carnival Cruise Line said it has canceled a cruise set to set sail out of New Orleans on Sunday due to Hurricane Ida impacts. 

Carnival said this voyage would have been the first from this port since their pause in operations due to Covid-19. The channel to cruise terminal remains closed at this time, the email said. 

Guests will receive a full refund and those with flexibility are being urged to consider transferring their reservation to the Carnival Vista, which is scheduled to depart from Galveston, Texas, on Sept. 4. 

“We are very sorry for this disruption to our guests’ vacation plans and we will keep those affected by the storm in our thoughts and prayers,” the company said. 

There have been at least 10 deaths spanning Maryland, New York, and New Jersey, in the wake of storm flooding.

Montgomery County Police in Maryland say while final autopsy is pending, the death of a 19-year old found dead after an apartment complex flooded Wednesday can be preliminarily attributed to the storm.

Additionally, the “unaccounted for” person at an apartment complex has been accounted after Montgomery County Police spoke with the individual and confirmed that person was out-of-state visiting relatives, Shiera Goff, director of public information for Montgomery County Department of Police, told CNN Thursday morning.

Eight people were reported dead in New York, and one person was reported dead in New Jersey, according to previous reporting.

First responders pull residents in a boat as they rescue people trapped by floodwaters in Mamaroneck, New York, on September 2.

New York’s Westchester County officials issued a state of emergency after what officials described as a “major water event.”

All public transportation is suspended in the county.

Many of the major roads supporting Westchester border rivers and bodies of water, including the Saw Mill Parkway and the Bronx River Parkway, and “they almost all flooded and were impassable,” the county’s communications director Catherine Cioffi said. She noted that there were a number of stranded cars.

“Areas of the county that don’t flood, flooded,” Cioffi said, including downtown Chappaqua.

The Sound Shore community, which faces the Long Island Sound, got hit “really hard,” she said. 

Rescues happened overnight in Mamaroneck, New York, she said.

The mass vaccination site in White Plains is completely flooded and is closed, she added.

Damage is seen in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Jefferson Parish has posted new drone video showing the devastation in Grand Isle, Louisiana, after Hurricane Ida slammed into the area on Sunday. 

Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday evening, Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle said the seven-mile long barrier island currently has no fresh water, gas, electricity or food. “It looks like bombs went off on this island,” he said. 

Watch:

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Some background: Grand Isle is Louisiana’s last remaining inhabited barrier island at the southern tip of the state. It bore the brunt of Hurricane Ida and was devastated by the Category 4 storm’s high winds, rain and storm surge that made landfall Sunday.

Even before Ida, the narrow isle has been increasingly under threat due to rising sea levels and sinking land. 

On Tuesday, a CNN crew visited the island to find utter devastation: homes destroyed and vehicles still under floodwaters, although there were no reports of deaths or injuries due to a mandatory evacuation.

The city of Philadelphia is reeling after its Schuylkill River rose 2 feet above a major flood stage.

Our CNN weather team reports the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia was at 15.88 feet at 8 a.m. ET today. That is almost 2 feet above the major flood stage, which is 14 feet.

The river rose 12 feet in only 8 hours between 4 p.m. ET and midnight ET.

The forecast shows that the river could rise a few more feet, up to 18 feet, but levels appear to be leveling out some in the last hour or two so it might not reach that high. 

Philadelphia’s transport system, SEPTA, tweeted that widespread flooding throughout the system is causes service delays and cancellations.

The city tweeted that city buildings will be closed today and encouraged employees who can work from home to do so. 

“The City continues to manage the storm damage and flooding impacts from the remnants of Hurricane Ida,” they tweeted through verified media. 

There is also a coastal flood warning from 7 a.m. ET until 2 p.m. ET for the Delaware River, Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management said.

White House adviser Cedric Richmond, the former Louisiana lawmaker who has been tasked with heading up the White House’s response to Hurricane Ida in the Gulf Coast, said the administration remains focused on power restoration in the Gulf Coast where nearly a million people are still without power.

President Biden is set to deliver remarks on his administration’s response to Ida at 11:30 a.m. ET.

He noted a call between Biden with Entergy and the trade association for energy companies. Biden, Richmond said, made sure “that they understand that it has to be all hands on deck, and to make sure that whatever they needed from the federal government that we give it to them.”

He added, “We know that power is the most essential need in recovery. People need to get back home so that they can start rebuilding their homes and their lives. We need to make sure that they can have air conditioning, make sure gas stations can have electricity, hospitals, the sewer pumps. Electricity is the basic element and foundation of recovery, which is why we’re so focused on making sure that we can make that happen quickly.”

Richmond was also pressed on the pandemic’s impact on those affected by the storm.

“In our shelters, we’re making sure that we follow the CDC guidelines of social distancing, testing, and those people who want vaccines, but it only goes to show why it was so important that the President stressed over a month ago, going into hurricane season, why it was important to get vaccinations,” he said.

“Because we know that this was the potential result. In August, you know it, every hurricane season brings about challenges, but we were prepared for it, and now we’re going to continue to do our work, we’re going to continue to try to keep people safe while we do it,” he continued.

Richmond was not asked about the storm’s impact in the Northeast.

The Fire Department of New York rescued hundreds across New York city, including removing people from vehicles in flooded roadways and subway stations, a spokesperson told CNN.

”Last night FDNY members rescued hundreds across city and removed occupants from vehicles on flooded roadways and hundreds from subway stations,” FDNY spokesperson Frank Dwyer said,

Dwyer expanded on the circumstances surrounding the deceased victims, including three victims in Queens – two adults and a 2-year-old child – who were reported missing and had not been seen since the flooding began.

When authorities were called to the residence in Queens they de-watered the basement the victims were discovered, Dwyer said.

Dwyer tells CNN that at 11 p.m. ET, there was a partial collapse of a side wall due to flooding in Queens and 12 units and 60 firefighters responded.

One person was taken to a local area hospital and later died. A second was dead on scene, he said.

A person walks through floodwaters on Newark Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, on September 1.

On Wednesday, Hoboken, New Jersey, suffered one of the most devastating storms in recent years, and its impact “is on par with Hurricane Irene,” Mayor Ravi Bhalla told CNN.

“We experienced 6.5 inches of rain in an eight-hour period,” he said Thursday. “Unfortunately, the number of calls for service has been overwhelming — people with alarms activated, downed wires, abandoned vehicles.”

“It was quite a challenge last night, but we’re slowly entering the recovery phase later on today,” he added.

Bhalla urged residents to stay home and not travel at this time, and emphasized that an emergency order is in effect, asking people to shelter in place.

As he surveyed the city along with other authorities, Bhalla said he saw some parts of Hoboken in water “that typically don’t flood.”

“These types of storm events [are] happening at a more frequent clip and at a more severe impact,” he said. “It really should be a call to action. In Hoboken, we declared a climate emergency. We consider climate change a state of emergency, and we’re taking actual measures to address that. But last night, the system was simply overwhelmed because of the impact of the storm.”

Watch:

Record-breaking amounts of rain have hammered the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

New York’s Central Park and Newark, New Jersey both set record daily rainfall amounts for September 1, 2021.

The record event report released by the National Weather Service New York put Central Park at 7.13” for Wednesday, breaking the old record of 3.84” set in 1927.

Weather records have been kept in Central Park since 1869.

Newark received 8.41” of rainfall, breaking the old record of 2.22” set in 1959.

A worker unblocks drains on a street affected by floodwaters in Brooklyn, New York, on September 2.

A leading climate scientist has warned that the world needs to make deep cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions if it wants to reduce the risk of dangerous extreme weather events, like Ida, which has brought record-shattering rain and flooding to the US’ northeast.

She also warned that New York City, and much of the world, was not ready to respond and adapt to such events effectively.

Kim Cobb, director of the Global Change Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said the UN’s report published earlier in August – for which she was a lead author – showed “new and stronger links between the heating of the atmosphere and the occurrence of extreme rainfall, such as this type of event.”

“That is because the atmosphere can hold more moisture in a warming world, and we’ve already seen direct links to warming and, for example, the event that occurred in Germany this last summer that killed over 180 people,” she told CNN.

Cobb said that infrastructure isn’t ready for the climate of now – let alone the climate of tomorrow.

“These kinds of climate impacts are going to worsen with each additional increment of warming,” she said.

“Reducing that risk means enacting the kind of deep sustained reductions in emissions that will reduce the risk and keep these impacts to a minimum by mid-century, when we will see tangible potential benefits of those reductions.”

What did the UN report say? August’s report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) represents the most comprehensive and conclusive “state of the science” on the climate crisis: why it is happening, how it is impacting every region of the planet, how much worse things are set to get and what must be done to avoid the worst consequences.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the report “a code red for humanity,” noting that “global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible.”

The report looked at wide reaching impacts of climate change, including:

Read the takeaways from the report here.

Passaic, New Jersey, is reeling from the aftermath of excessive rainfall on Wednesday. Parts of the town saw up to eight feet of water, Mayor Hector Lora told CNN on Thursday.

Apart from one storm-related death, authorities are also investigating reports of two young adults who may have been swept into the river, Lora said.

“We presently have two individuals, who are reported, they may have been swept in the river. We have 60 individuals that we evacuated from our downtown area because of the potential of the river, which crested last night and came over the banks,” he said. “We will be tallying up throughout the day and trying to make sure that every individual is accounted for.”

He urged residents should stay home and off the roads.

“Obviously vehicles can be repaired. Property can be replaced but loss of life cannot be returned,” he said. “Nothing can be more important than your life.”

The current efforts are also focused on cleaning up roads and drains, but Lora emphasized that the impact of this storm could not have been anticipated.

“No one could predict the impact that this storm would have with such intense rain, all coming down so quickly. It truly devastated areas around our state and specifically, here in the city of Passaic,” the mayor said.

Watch:

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said she briefed President Biden’s team this morning on the effects from Ida as the storm caused major flooding in the Northeast. 

She said FEMA teams will be surveying damage and assisting with any long-term recovery efforts.  

“Ida is going to continue. She’s been leaving her track across the country, and so we’re still not out of the woods. We’re still seeing some impacts up in the New England area,” Criswell said. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during her swearing-in ceremony at the New York State Capitol in Albany on August 24.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the “unprecedented” rainfall from the remnants of Ida caused New York City to become “paralyzed,” and she encouraged residents to stay home and check on loved ones.

New York declared a state of emergency early Thursday morning and a travel ban was implemented in New York City until 5 a.m. ET, according to an emergency alert sent by Notify NYC. 

Central Park saw nearly 7 inches of rain on Wednesday, with the first-ever flash flood emergency issued for the city.

New York City and state workers are restoring power and transit lines.

“There’s going to be a massive cleanup. But I will continue to urge people to stay home. Check on your neighbors. Give everybody a call. Make sure they’re OK, because people are just stunned by what happened last night,” Hochul said.

Hochul declared a state of emergency last night. She will be surveying the damage from the storm today, she said.

Hochul became the state’s first female governor on Aug. 24 after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid multiple scandals.

Watch:

Downed power lines are seen in Metairie, Louisiana, on August 30.

Roughly 1,178,680 customers are without power from Hurricane Ida and the remnants as they passed through the eastern part of the country, according to PowerOutage.us.

Here’s a look at the impacted states:

If you are in one of the impacted areas, here are some tips for how to safely use a generator.

United Airlines says it is suspending operations at its major Newark hub following last night’s flooding. 

Flight tracking site FlightAware shows 190 canceled Newark flights, the most flight cancellations in the United States right now.

“We encourage customers with travel plans to, from, or through Newark Liberty Airport to check United.com or the United app for flight status before heading to the airport,” the airline said.

There have been at least 9 storm related deaths in New York and New Jersey as Ida battered the Northeast.

A New York Police Department spokesperson told CNN an 86-year-woman, who lived in Corona, Queens, was found in the basement by her son just before midnight last night. Seven other weather related deaths were previously reported to CNN by the NYPD in various boroughs of New York City.

In Passaic, New Jersey, Mayor Hector Lora told CNN’s Don Lemon that the body of an elderly man in his 70s was retrieved from floodwaters after the vehicle he was riding in was overtaken by water and firefighters were swept under the vehicle making it nearly “impossible” for them to reach him.

CNN’s Alta Spells contributed reporting to this post.

People and cars are on a street flooded by heavy rain in Queens, New York, on September 1.

The President of New York City’s Queens Borough Donovan Richards blamed climate change for the intensity of the excessive rainfall on Wednesday.

“These catastrophic storms are going to be more frequent as we move forward based on what we know all too well that climate change is going to continue to [rear] its ugly head,” he told CNN.

The state of emergency issued overnight is not enough and the federal government needs to step up on its action against climate change, he added.

“We don’t have time to whittle our thumbs here. We’re running up against the clock. The clock is already ticking. We’re here. If we don’t move aggressively to combat climate change, we’re going to continue to lose life unfortunately. And the city, state and federal government will continue to pay out a lot of dollars to fix many of the issues that happen as we see this more frequent storms occur,” he said.

Richards said he has spoken with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio about the situation this morning.

While the focus remains on cleaning up roads and safety, residents should stay home, he said.

“We urge every resident, who is nonessential, to stay home, to stay off the roads. And I hope employers are going to allow their workers to work remotely if they don’t have to come into the office. But the big focus is clean up right now and safety,” he said Thursday.

Highway 440 is flooded in Jersey City, New Jersey, on September 2.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Wednesday “a heck of a night” and said that the state is still not yet out of the woods when it comes to remnants of Ida.

“Tornadoes touching down, as your reporters said, severe flooding, sadly, loss of life,” said Murphy to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Thursday. “We just would beg folks to stay off the roads, stay home if you can right now because we have a lot of trees to clean up, a lot of roads to clear up with stranded vehicles.”

Murphy said he’ll be visiting towns hit by tornadoes on Thursday morning where there is “significant home damage, significant tree damage” to assess the extent of the damage.

“There’s a lot of hurt right now in New Jersey and we’re going to be there for folks. It’s going to be a long road to recovery but we’re going to be there with them.”

Climate change in real time: Murphy also said that the tropical storm is a reminder that extreme weather conditions are happening more frequently and intensely.

“New Jersey is probably the most exposed state in the country to climate change, and we are the most densely populated,” he said. “Our resiliency, I’d say not just as a state, but as a country, we got to turn up–we got to turn it up.”

Murphy also provided an update on Newark Airport saying “it’s going to take time till they’re fully back on their feet.”

“NJ Transit similarly basically got no rail service at the moment, with the exception of the Atlantic City line,” said Murphy. “Bus service is intermittent at best.”

“It’s going to be a long road and we’re going to be there for folks,” he said.

Rescues from between 15 and 20 subway trains took place overnight after a “regional emergency” has “hit the entire transportation system,” according to the head of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The subway system flooded in 46 locations, and crews continue to inspect infrastructure and work on drain rainfall, the MTA said in a statement at 4:15 a.m. ET.

Janno Lieber, the acting chair and CEO of the MTA, told CNN that roughly 15-20 subway trains were stranded during the “historic rainfall,” and emergency teams rescued individuals over several hours.

Hundreds of trains were operating in the subway as “one-hour historic rainfall overtook everybody,” Lieber said to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The rescues were done successfully with no injuries, Lieber said, and they “took a couple of hours” in tandem with FDNY and NYPD.

Approximately 65 buses were blocked or stuck, but all passengers were cleared, the MTA said.

Continued disruption: Lieber said “we’re bringing service up” on the MTA, and a number of lines already have been restored.

Commuter rail lines are operating with extremely limited service due to “major power issues” and “mudslides.” Lieber is discouraging commuters from traveling on those lines.

Long Island Rail Road, which services transit to Manhattan, is expected to have delays and cancellations. Service is suspended between the transport hub in Queens and Atlantic Terminal as crews are on scene to pump water.

Customers from two stranded Metro North trains have been rescued. Officials are assessing the system and working to restore service as quickly as possible.

Transit officials said that all NJ Transit rail service is suspended this morning, except for the Atlantic City Rail Line, in the wake of mass flooding due to remnants of Ida.

The suspension includes the Newark Light Rail. 

Scientists can now work out just how much of a role human-made climate change has played in an extreme weather event.

Fires in western US states and Canada, for example, were virtually impossible without climate change, which worsened heat and drought conditions. It’s too early to estimate the role of climate change on the current heavy rainfall we’re seeing in the northeastern United States, but past attribution studies on hurricanes leave little doubt that there’s a link.

Friederike Otto, who co-leads the World Weather Attribution project, said that natural weather variability can’t explain the increase in the number of major hurricanes we’ve seen in recent decades. In other words, she is confident that human-made climate change is playing a role in this trend.

While there is less certainty about the impacts of climate change on wind speed and some other factors, scientists have a high confidence level that hurricanes are slowing down in pace. 

“This is important, as it means the cyclones hang around for longer and thus can also cause more damage,“ Otto said. “In short, the characteristics of hurricanes are changing. For some aspects – in particular associated rain and translation speed – we know that climate change is an important driver.”

Read more about hurricanes here.

Entergy Louisiana said customers in Baton Rouge could have their power restored by Sept. 8, according to a tweet from the company.

The area was hit hard by Hurricane Ida over the weekend, and much of the region has been in the dark since. More than 899,600 customers are still without power in the state, according to PowerOutages.US.

The lights of Times Square in New York are reflected in standing water on September 2.

Yesterday’s excessive rainfall in New York City left people stranded at subway stations overnight as the streets became dangerously flooded and trains remained stuck at stops.

A train has been standing at the Times Square subway station since 9:45 p.m. local time Wednesday night. As a result, there are people at the station who have been there ever since, unable to leave, CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz reported.

People slept on benches, sat on staircases, did not eat, and just waited the night out, he said.

“I talked to a woman earlier, who said she was starving. She was afraid to leave the subway station because she was afraid she was going to miss her train. So she was afraid to leave, afraid to get water. Finally, she left. And I told her, ‘stores are open. You can go outside and you can come back in.’ So she left and she never came back,” Prokupecz said.

Earlier, many of the people at the station were commuters trying to return home from the office on Wednesday, but in the last hour, a stream of hopeful travelers are now trickling in, trying to get to work for the day ahead.

“They run to the train only to be told, well, this train is not going anywhere,” Prokupecz added.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz reports:

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More service disruptions are being reported by Amtrak, following the unprecedented and dangerous weather conditions in the northeastern United States.

The passenger rail company says that all services between Philadelphia and Boston prior to 9 a.m. ET this morning have been canceled because of “severe weather with significant rainfall along the Northeast Corridor.”

People navigate heavy rains and flooded walkways at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, on September 1.

More than seven inches of rainfall came down across the five boroughs of New York City in a five-hour period, as the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused fatal flooding across the northeastern United States.

When you average out the city’s area, it equates to 35 billion gallons of water falling out of the sky in that period. That is about 50,000 Olympic-sized pools essentially being released over the city, according to CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

This amount of rainfall is overwhelming for any part of the world, but put it in an urban environment, and it becomes that much more problematic, he added.

Newark, too, experienced its wettest single day on record, with almost 8.5 inches of rainfall on Wednesday.

Watch the report:

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Rain falls into Louis Armstrong Stadium from the openings along the sides during a US Open tennis match between Diego Schwartzman and Kevin Anderson in Queens, New York, on September 1.

The unprecedented amount of rainfall across New York City has also affected play at the ongoing US Open.

“Two of the stadiums at Flushing Meadows have a retractable roof – Louis Armstrong and Arthur Ashe. But they are not completely enclosed, they have openings on the sides at the top,” CNN’s Andy Scholes explained, adding that the huge amounts of rain meant water got on the court at the Louis Armstrong stadium.

“Fans were putting on ponchos, opened up umbrellas,” Scholes added. “[Authorities] had blowers brought out multiple times on to the court to try to dry it out.”

The match between Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and South Africa’s Kevin Anderson was halted and eventually moved to the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was in a “better shape,” Scholes reported.

Fans also had a tough time leaving Flushing Meadows. The subway train that many fans use to get to the site was out of service for much of the storm before coming back online earlier this morning in a limited capacity. 

American Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn was in the crowd and tweeted about the weather conditions.

The victims of Hurricane Ida who are returning to damaged homes face a torrent of challenges – if they’re lucky enough to have a home standing at all.

The onslaught of stress, grief and logistical nightmares can seem overwhelming. But experts say these tips can help victims stay safe, get help, protect their emotional health and take the first steps toward recovery:

Read the full advice here.

A 2-year-old toddler is one of at least seven people killed after heavy rainfall in New York City, according to police.

The victims include a 48-year-old woman, who was found by New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers in her home in the Grand Central Parkway area of Queens, after she called 911 because of flooding conditions. The woman was taken to Forest Hills Hospital by EMS where she was pronounced dead.

Two additional victims in Queens were found by officers Wednesday night around 183rd Street, NYPD said. A 45-year-old woman was taken to Queens General Hospital by EMS where she was pronounced dead. A 22-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 50-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman and the 2-year-old male child were all pronounced dead at the scene of their 64th Street residence after NYPD officers responding to a 911 call of flooding arrived to find them unconscious and unresponsive.

In Brooklyn, police officers found a 66-year-old man in his home on Ridgewood Avenue, Wednesday night when they were responding to a 911 call reporting flooding. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

All of the victims were located between 10 p.m. ET and midnight on Wednesday night, the NYPD said.

In Passaic, New Jersey, Mayor Hector Lora told CNN’s Don Lemon that the body of an elderly man in his 70s was retrieved from flood waters after the vehicle he was riding in was overtaken by water and firefighters were swept under the vehicle making it nearly “impossible” for them to reach him.

Vehicles are in floodwaters on an expressway in Brooklyn, New York, on September 2.

The remnants of Hurricane Ida have caused dangerous flash floods and tornadoes across the northeastern United States, including across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

States of emergency have been declared in New York and New Jersey due to the storms. These are the rarest of weather alerts, and only reserved for when you have life-threatening flooding and water rescues, and catastrophic flooding taking place.

It has never been issued for New York City before, according to CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

Here’s what you should know:

At least eight people have been killed in storm-related deaths. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported seven fatalities in the city and the Mayor Hector Lora reported at least one death due to flooding in Passaic, New Jersey.

There has been an unprecedented amount of rainfall by any metric, Javaheri said. The storm prediction center had warned of a level 4 rainfall – the highest risk for excessive rainfall.

Portions of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts will soon see the last bit of thunderstorm activity, as Ida pushes away from the US over the next several hours, Javaheri added.

More than 300 flights were canceled out of Newark International Liberty airport as Newark sees its wettest day in recorded history, Javaheri reported.

Flooding is seen in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday, September 1.

At least eight people have been killed in storm-related deaths in New York and New Jersey according to reports from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Mayor Hector Lora of Passaic, New Jersey.

The NYPD is reporting seven fatalities in New York City and Lora reported at least one death due to flooding in Passaic.

Fuel is in short supply in Louisiana, where many residents are relying on gas-powered generators in the wake of Hurricane Ida’s destruction, and the shortage is slowing the long and complicated recovery efforts, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

More than 960,000 customers are still without power in the state, according to PowerOutages.US. And those in the hardest-hit areas could experience outages for weeks, the regional electric utility Entergy has warned.

As of Tuesday, as many as eight refineries were down, with one or two coming back up Wednesday, Edwards said, and the state is working with federal partners and with the business community to identify ways fuel can be brought into the state.

Fuel problem hampering recovery: When Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast on Sunday, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it was a Category 4 hurricane. It has since downgraded to a tropical depression and moved north, where its remnants caused heavy flooding Wednesday.

There have been at least five confirmed deaths tied to the hurricane.

As officials sift through the wreckage to assess damage, rescue residents and store infrastructure, the fuel problem is “impacting all of our recovery efforts,” Edwards said.

A woman fills a customers gas can after Hurricane Ida on September 1, 2021 in Maurepas, Louisiana. The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Sunday in Louisiana and brought flooding, wind damage and power outages along the Gulf Coast.

Related article Fuel is in short supply in Louisiana, which is a critical problem for the Hurricane Ida recovery effort, governor says

People make their way in rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 1, in the Bronx, New York City. 

The remnants of Ida brought record levels of rain to the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States. Here are some of the records that fell:

Heavy rains in some areas of the northeastern United States has lead to delays and cancellations for Amtrak, a spokeswoman for the passenger rail service said.

Earlier in the morning, the Amtrak Northeast Twitter account also posted about lengthy delays of trains between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Haven, Connecticut, because of the severe weather conditions. 

A person walks through floodwaters on Newark Street caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenching the New York City and New Jersey area on September 1 in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

Extreme rainfall rates like those seen in New York and New Jersey, as well as other recent extreme rainfall events in Tennessee, Germany and China, are becoming more common because of human-caused global warming, scientists say.

A recent UN climate report stated, “the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events have increased since the 1950s over most land area.”

In the US specifically, the heaviest downpours have been observed to be increasing in all regions of the continental US, with the Northeast US showing the largest increase, according to the US National Climate Assessment.

A tornado swept through New Jersey’s Gloucester County on Wednesday, damaging multiple homes, according to CNN affiliate WPVI. 

Video of the storm shows multiple residences destroyed in the county’s Mullica Hill neighborhood.

One resident said she heard the tornado approaching then saw all her backyard furniture swept away by the winds.

Rain enters the court through the outer openings of the roof causing a delay during the match between South Africa's Kevin Anderson and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman at the 2021 US Open on September 1 in New York.

The United States Tennis Association is working with New York authorities to identify routes to get fans home from the US Open, according to spokesperson Chris Widmaier.

The USTA is sending vehicles out to look for routes away from the venue at Flushing Meadows, Queens, according to Widmaier. 

Limited train services are running from stations near the venue, Widmaier said.

The US Open, tennis’ final major tournament of the year, is scheduled to run until September 12.

At least one person was killed in the flash flooding that inundated the New Jersey city of Passaic, Mayor Hector Lora said.

Lora told CNN’s Don Lemon the body of an elderly man in his seventies was retrieved from floodwaters. The vehicle the man was riding in was overtaken by water and firefighters were swept under it, making it nearly impossible for them to reach the man. 

Firefighters were able to rescue two other individuals from the vehicle, according to the mayor.  

The band of extremely heavy rain that dumped record rainfall and brought flash floods to New Jersey and New York City is currently stretching from eastern Long Island into eastern Connecticut. One-hour rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches are being indicated on radar in this area.

The rain in New York City appears to be ending.

Over the next several hours, this band will move into Rhode Island and Massachusetts, bringing potential dangerous flooding to other cities, like Providence and Boston.

Between 7 p.m. and midnight Eastern time, 6.8 inches (173 millimeters) of rain fell over Central Park.

Assuming that amount of rain fell equally over the 302 square miles (782 square kilometers) that make up all five boroughs of New York City — which may not actually be the case — then it would mean a whopping 35 billion gallons (132 billion liters) of water fell on the city between 7 p.m. and midnight.

Whatever the actual amount is, there is so much rain that the National Weather Service’s New York City office is warning residents to stay off the streets.

Flood waters can be seen in New York's Penn Station Wednesday, September 1 during the record-breaking rainfall due to remnants of Hurricane Ida hitting Northern New Jersey and New York City.

All New Jersey Transit rail service, with the exception of the Atlantic City Rail Line, has been suspended due to the extreme weather conditions caused by the remnants of Ida, the transit service posted on their official website.

All light rail and buses “are subject to suspensions, detours and delays,” due to the heavy rains and flooding that lashed the area Wednesday night, NJ Transit said.

One person died when the side wall of a building in Queens partially collapsed, according to the New York Fire Department.

The FDNY said it responded to reports of a water leak and removed one individual who was transported to Queens general hospital. A second patient was pronounced dead on scene. 

The FDNY could not comment directly on what caused the partial collapse.

A firefighter directs people stranded at a subway entrance during flash flooding in New York on September 1.

First responders continue to safely evacuate people from the New York City subway system after “a historic and challenging night for the region, our customers and transit workers,” the acting chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, Janno Lieber, said in a statement.

It’s unclear how many trains still need to be evacuated.

Janno said the torrential rains have caused massive amounts of water to enter subways.

There is very limited subway and bus service at this time.

Commuter trains have also been affected. Metro-North Railroad completely suspended all train service on all lines for safety reasons and Long Island Rail Road service shut down after trains reached their final destinations, according to the MTA.

All non-emergency vehicles are banned from New York City’s streets until 5 a.m. Eastern Time due to severe weather that’s caused widespread flooding across the city, city authorities said on Twitter.

People stand inside a subway station as water runs past their feet during flash flooding caused by storm Ida in New York, Wednesday night, September 1.

There are no reports of significant or critical injuries at this time in New York City due to the massive storm that has hit the city, according to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).

The FDNY doesn’t yet have total numbers on how many people have been rescued but units have been deployed throughout the city. They have been removing people from flooded roadways and from subways in Manhattan.

Members of the FDNY rescue a woman from her stalled car due to flash flooding in New York, Wednesday, September 1.

The flash flood emergency that covers much of northern New Jersey and southern New York has been extended until 3 a.m. Eastern Time. Widespread flash flooding is occurring, water rescues are taking place, and rain continues to fall. 

The flash flood emergency includes:

The City of Trenton, New Jersey, has advised residents in the Island neighborhood to evacuate by 8 a.m. ET due to rising flood waters. 

Passaic, New Jersey, Mayor Hector Lora declared a state of emergency due to the massive, deadly flooding in his city.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency due to the storm current lashing the state.

Hochul told CNN’s Don Lemon it is “not safe for people to be out” and that New York is in a “very dire situation.”

Water rescue teams are ready to be deployed where necessary and tree crews are on the ground equipped to work with potential downed power lines, Hochul said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in New York City Wednesday night as rain from the remnants of Ida pounds the city.

In a series of tweets, de Blasio asks residents to stay off city streets, and says an estimated 5,300 customers have lost power 

In a follow up tweet the mayor urged people to stay off the streets and let first responders and emergency services “get their work done.”

 “If you’re thinking of going outside, don’t. Stay off the subways. Stay off the roads. Don’t drive into these heavy waters. Stay inside.” De Blasio said.

President Biden is expected to deliver remarks today on the administration’s response to Hurricane Ida.

Biden will visit Louisiana on Friday to survey storm damage and meet with state and local officials, the White House said.

More than 985,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana and more than 30,000 in Mississippi were without power Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.US.

Some parishes have warned residents that the power outages could last at least a month as the state recovers from now-Post-Tropical Cyclone Ida, which made landfall Sunday in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane and contributed to at least five confirmed deaths — three in Louisiana and two in Mississippi.

Another person died in Maryland after the remnants of Ida flooded an apartment complex Wednesday, according to Montgomery County officials. A 19-year-old man was found dead, but the cause of death has not been confirmed, Montgomery County Police Department spokesperson Casandra Durham told CNN.