Floods send New York City into state of emergency

NEW YORK (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped historic rain over the tri-state area, with at least nine deaths linked to flooding in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as basement apartments suddenly filled with water and freeways and boulevards turned into rivers, submerging cars.

At least nine deaths were reported in New York City and New Jersey.

A New York City police spokesperson says a total of eight people died when they became trapped in flooded basements. Officials outside of Philadelphia reported “multiple fatalities,” saying no additional details were immediately available.

Water poured into New York City subway tunnels as catastrophic flooding, which scientists have warned likely will be more common with man-made global warming, came to America's largest city.

Major flooding along the Schuylkill River swamped highways, submerged cars and disrupted commuter rail service in the Philadelphia area.

In a tweet, city officials predicted “historic flooding” on Thursday as river levels continue to rise.

In New York, the rain brought transportation in large parts of the bustling city to a halt. Officials banned travel for all but emergency vehicles until early Thursday.

FDR Drive in Manhattan, and the Bronx River Parkway were under water. Garbage bobbed in the water rushing down streets.

Some subway and rail service had resumed Thursday morning.

Rescues took place all over New York City as its 8.8 million people saw much worse flooding than from Henri.

The National Weather Service recorded 3.15 inches of rain in New York's Central Park in one hour Wednesday night, far surpassing the 1.94 inches that fell in one hour during Henri on the night of August 21, which was believed at the time to be the most ever recorded in the park.

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