7 dead as New York City hit by flash flood caused by Storm Ida

Chennai

At least seven people have died in New York after the citywas inundated by flash flooding, police said Thursday, as Storm Ida affectedthe northeast United States, forcing flight cancellations and state ofemergency declarations. Ida slammed into the southern state of Louisiana over theweekend, bringing severe flooding and tornadoes as it blazed a trail ofdestruction north.

New York state governor Kathy Hochul declared anemergency as the remnants of the storm caused massive flooding in the country'sfinancial and cultural capital, leaving the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queensbadly hit. Police did not say how the seven deaths in the cityoccurred.

State governor Phil Murphy has also declared a state ofemergency in neighboring New Jersey, where CNN reported at least one person waskilled in the city of Passaic, bringing the confirmed death count from Ida to15.

"We're enduring an historic weather event tonight withrecord-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditionson our roads," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a tweet as he declared a stateof emergency in the city.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at nearby LaGuardiaand JFK airports, as well as at Newark, where video showed a terminal inundatedby rainwater.

Flooding has closed major roads across multiple boroughsincluding Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens. Streets were transformed into rivers while the city's subwaystations were also flooded, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authorityreported services were effectively shut down. As footage showed cars submerged on streets across the city,authorities urged residents not drive on flooded roads.

"You do not know how deep the water is and it is toodangerous," the New York branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) saidin a tweet.

The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain inCentral Park in just an hour -- the area's wettest hour on record. The city earlier issued a rare flash flood emergency warningurging residents to move to higher ground.

"Significant and life-threatening flash flooding islikely from the Mid-Atlantic into southern New England," the NWS said in abulletin, adding that three to eight inches of rain could drench the regionthrough Thursday. In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the US capital,a tornado ripped up trees and toppled electricity poles.