State of emergency declared as deadly flooding hits Northeast US

New York, USA, Sep 2 (EFE).- New York City officials declared a state of emergency for severe flooding caused by extreme downpours overnight as the remnants of Hurricane Ida lashed the United States’ Northeast Thursday.

Almost all subway services were suspended in NYC due to severe flash flooding that caused torrents of water to rush into the underground tunnels and platforms.

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city late Wednesday.

“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” he said in a tweet.

New York State governor Kathy Hochul declared a state-wide emergency due to the severe adverse weather conditions.

The National Weather Service said it had issued its first ever flash food emergency for NYC, warning that 3 to 5 inches of rain (7.6cm to 15.2cm) was expected to fall in parts of the city and that it could not rule out local tornado events.

The governor of neighboring New Jersey also declared a state of emergency and all scheduled flights at Newark international airport were cancelled.

Hector Lora, the mayor of Passaic, New Jersey, confirmed in a Facebook live broadcast that at least one person had died in the city and that there were “unconfirmed reports of additional lives that may have been lost.”

He added: “There are too many areas where the flooding has gotten so bad, there are cars stuck and there are bodies under water. We are now retrieving bodies.”

News channel NBC reported five deaths in the Northeast.