New York City and New Jersey was slammed with heavy rain overnight and into Thursday morning, causing historic, mass flooding due to the remnants of hurricane Ida earlier. The storm hit the Northeast as a post-tropical cyclone on Wednesday after making landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday. The historic rain halted subway service and destroyed homes in New Jersey. At least eight deaths were reported from the flooding, seven in New York City and one in Passaic, N.J.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Passaic, NJ Mayor Hector Lora all issued states of emergency as the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for New York and southern New England. “We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” de Blasio said via Twitter. “Please stay off the streets tonight and let our first responders and emergency services get their work done.” He urged New Yorkers not to drive and stay off subway trains, and videos showed subways and streets flooded.
Early Thursday, the city’s official emergency notification system issued a travel ban until 5 a.m., stating “all non-emergency vehicles must be off NYC streets and highways.” The Metropolitan Transportation Authority told residents that they “strongly recommended” the public avoid traveling.