The number of victims of the devastating effects of Ida hitting the US states of New York and New Jersey on Thursday has reached 22, media reported on Thursday.
At least 8 people died in floodwaters in New York City, including a 2-year-old boy, while another 14 people were found dead in the state of New Jersey, the report said.
In Passaic, New Jersey, one body was recovered from a vehicle that went underwater near the Passaic River, according to the town’s mayor cited by the report.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency on Wednesday night followed by a travel ban issued overnight urging all non-emergency vehicles to stay off-roads on Thursday. Ida, now reduced to cyclone level, hit New York City on Wednesday and inundated some areas with rain, including the subway, causing suspension of train services on some lines.
The hurricane came ashore in south Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of up to 150 miles per hour and caused what Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called a catastrophic collapse of the state’s electric power grid. Ida weakened into a tropical storm as it made its way northeast.
