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Updates on natural disasters
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At least 14 people have died in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rainfall that caused flash floods in the area on Wednesday night.
The floods forced the New York subway to stop, stranding travelers on their overnight journeys. Service on the majority of lines was still at least partially suspended Thursday morning, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority urging passengers to avoid unnecessary trips.
Newark Liberty International Airport noted he suffered “severe flooding”, canceled more than 300 flights and briefly evacuated an air traffic control tower due to high winds.
Tennis matches at the US Open tournament in New York have also been put on hold as heavy rains pierced the retractable roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Nearly 200,000 utility customers lost power in the storm, while homes were razed by a tornado that hit Mullica Hill, New Jersey.
Nine people have died in New York City, including eight in flooded basements in the Queens neighborhood, police said. Four other people were found dead at an apartment complex in the port city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the AP said, and more deaths have been reported outside of Philadelphia.
Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, the strongest storm to hit the region since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Entergy, Louisiana’s largest electric utility, has restored some services, but hundreds of thousands of customers have been left in the dark and those in the worst affected areas face weeks without power.
The storm’s ability to cripple the country’s most densely populated area within hours has shown just how unprepared New York’s infrastructure remains for stronger, wetter storms associated with climate change.
“What we have to recognize is the suddenness, the brutality of the storms now,” said Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York. “It’s different… It’s the greatest revival we’ve ever been able to get. We’re going to do a lot of things differently and quickly.
Images of water rising through the windows of parked cars, tumbling down the stairs of subway stations and spilling into the basements of homes have been shared widely on social media.
The National Meteorological Service has published its First time flash flood emergency for New York City shortly after 9 p.m., saying water rescues were already underway. The storm also broke the record for the most rainfall seen in Central Park in a single hour, falling 3.15 inches. The previous record was set less than two weeks ago by Tropical Storm Henri.
A travel advisory asking non-emergency vehicles not to travel on the roads remained in effect on Thursday.
Ida’s confidence shot should be substantial. Fitch Ratings predicted earlier this week that the overall cost to insurers and reinsurers could be between $ 15 billion and $ 25 billion, likely exceeding the impact of this year’s winter storm Uri, which destroyed the country’s power grid. Texas, but still well below the $ 65 billion affected. by Katrina.
Boston-based disaster modeling firm Karen Clark & Company released a “quick estimate” of $ 18 billion of Ida’s claims, including $ 40 million in the Caribbean and the remainder in losses related to the wind and storms in the United States.
“It will take several months or more for the financial view of this event to develop fully,” insurance broker Aon said on Monday. Uninsured costs will also be significant, he added, including damage to infrastructure as well as to properties without flood coverage.
The insurance industry is already in shock after the worst start to the year for natural disasters in a decade, as the effects of urban development and climate change combine to deliver a hard blow of $ 40 billion in the first half of the year due to events such as forest fires and winter storms. This was followed by more extreme weather conditions in July, including flooding in Europe which has been rated as the region’s costliest weather event for decades.
Additional reporting by Justin Jacobs in Houston
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