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The roads turned into rivers. Downed trees and power lines blocked roads and damaged homes. And a tornado ravaged a town in southern Jersey, destroying at least 20 homes.
During one of the most severe storms to hit New Jersey in recent years, Tropical Storm Ida delivered a coup de grace, wreaking havoc throughout the state, killing people, flooding city centers and causing millions of dollars in damage.
As of noon Thursday, at least nine people in New Jersey have died from the storm, four of whom have died at an apartment complex in Elizabeth.
Ida left few areas of New Jersey unharmed, with destruction spanning the state from Passaic County in the north to Gloucester County in the south. As the storm was expected to have a massive impact – Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in all 21 New Jersey counties – the destruction, at first glance Thursday morning, was far greater than many had feared.
“There are a lot of injuries in New Jersey,” Murphy said Thursday morning as he pledged to use all available resources to help residents cope with the widespread damage. “We are pulling all the levers. It’s going to be a long road, ”he said, imploring people to stay off the roads.
Ida’s confirmed death toll at noon Thursday exceeded the state’s losses from Hurricane Floyd and the number could rise further as rescue teams continue to search.
In 2011, nine people in New Jersey died from Hurricane Irene, most by drowning in raging floodwaters while trapped in their cars. Six people drowned in New Jersey during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, with two deaths each in Somerset and Bergen counties and one each in Passaic and Salem counties. At least 40 people in New Jersey died in Storm Sandy in 2012.
Ida’s worst floods may yet be to come. By midday Thursday, some rivers had not yet reached their peak.
The National Weather Service predicts that the Passaic River at Pine Brook and Little Falls, the Raritan River at Bound Brook, and Assunpink Creek in Trenton will continue to rise until 6 p.m. Friday. The Delaware River in Easton / Phillipsburg is expected to peak around 6 p.m. Thursday, the weather service said.
The storm also disrupted transportation across the state, temporarily shutting down Newark International Airport on Wednesday evening, with nearly 400 flights canceled. The floods have closed part of a terminal and some roads remain closed. Teterboro Airport was also closed. NJ Transit rail service is still suspended, with the exception of the Atlantic City rail line, while buses operate with localized delays as they encounter roads closed by flooding and downed trees.
More than 60,000 people remained without electricity Thursday at noon. For PSE & G customers, Essex County had the most outages with over 14,000. JCP & L’s outages included over 8,000 in Morris, nearly 8,000 in Hunterdon and over 7,500 in Counties. Sussex.
Because waters from the Raritan River spilled onto Route 18 in New Brunswick and were still rising on Thursday, Rutgers postponed their season-opening football game against Temple to Saturday.
As of noon Thursday, authorities confirmed at least nine deaths from the storm.
In Elizabeth, four residents of the Oakwood Plaza Apartments on Irvington Avenue died in the storm, and rescue personnel are trying to determine if there could be more casualties. The dead include a 70-year-old married couple, their 38-year-old son and a 33-year-old neighbor, but their names have not been released, authorities said.
Police called all listed residents and door-to-door apartments on Thursday morning to check on other residents, city spokeswoman Kelly Martins said.
“Our police and firefighters are going door to door to pretty much do a welfare check at this point and see if there are unfortunately more,” Martins said.
Some 600 residents of Elizabeth are homeless because of the storm, officials said.
In Middlesex County, a man died when he was swept away in a 36-inch storm sewer pipe, South Plainfield police said.
Authorities said two men were dragged into the pipe, which runs under Stelton Road from South Plainfield to Piscataway on Wednesday evening, but only one of the men was rescued.
Then on Thursday, police said, they found the body of Dhanush Reddy, 31, of Edison, in a wooded area of Piscataway.
Two people were found dead in submerged vehicles in Hillsborough Township, said deputy head of Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Frank Roman Jr. The deaths took place between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning .
Roman said a preliminary investigation revealed the two had driven in flooded water.
In Milford, Hunterdon County, a driver was found dead in a pickup truck in a creek off Carpenter Street, Mayor Henri Schepens said. The driver’s name has not yet been released and New Jersey State Police are investigating the death.
“We don’t know where the vehicle came from,” Schepens said. “He could have crossed many bridges. It lasted quite a long time. The whole roof was smashed. Water is incredibly powerful.
In Passaic, a 70-year-old man drowned in a car that was completely submerged by flood waters in Passaic on Wednesday evening, Passaic mayor Hector Lora said. The man’s 66-year-old wife and 25-year-old son were rescued by firefighters, but two others may have been swept away by the flooding, Lora said. The name of the 70-year-old has not been released.
Lora said at least two more are believed to have died, washed away by the Passaic River, and that divers will continue to search.
“This is just another reminder, these come more frequently,” Murphy said, noting that climate change is exposing New Jersey in part because of its dense population. “We need to update our playbook. We need to ramp up, but until then we’ll be there for the people as they pick up the pieces and recover.
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NJ Advance Media reporters Rodrigo Torrejon, Steven Rodas, Rob Jennings, Larry Higgs, Noah Cohen, and Joe Atmonavage contributed to this report.
Karin Price Mueller can be contacted at [email protected].
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