Hurricane Ida: 9 dead in New York, New Jersey; commuters urged to stay home

Flooding killed at least nine persons, swept away cars, submerged subway lines and grounded flights in New York and New Jersey in the United States (US) as the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought torrential rain to the area.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency in New York City, United States, for the first time and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described the flooding and weather on Wednesday night as a “historic weather event. Recovery efforts are under way to bring back transportation systems.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul has urged commuters to stay home and urged them to give them some time to restore trains services. Subway service in New York City remained extremely limited on Thursday morning, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) said. It is reported that it is going to take until later in the day to restore full service.

The Long Island Railroad, which is also run by the MTA, said early on Thursday that services on most of its branches have been restored, but commuters should expect systemwide delays of up to 30 minutes.

Images posted on social media showed water gushing over subway platforms and trains. At least one person was killed as the flooding inundated New Jersey city of Passaic.  One more person died in New Jersey and seven died in New York City, including a two-year-old boy. It is reported that people had been trapped in their basements as the storm sent water surging through the city.

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