Deaths left by Hurricane Ida continued to pile up on Sunday, with several residents in the U.S. Northeast still hoping for people caught in the floodwaters and about 600, 000 Louisiana locals are still experiencing power difficulties a week following the storm’s havoc.
Last August 29, the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing extreme winds that reach 150 miles per hour. At least 13 people were confirmed dead in the state as of Sunday.
Fifty more people were killed as the storm moved north and triggered flash flooding on the East Coast.
On Wednesday, New York City experienced extreme rainfall that shattered records, reaching 3.1 inches per hour. Ida had left flooded public transportation systems, businesses, and 1, 200 homes. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the damages it left have surpassed $50 million.
“The human toll was tremendous,” the governor said, remembering what she witnessed when she assessed the situation in the New York City borough of Queens. “One woman wept in my arms, an 89-year-old woman. She had nothing left after living in that home for over 40 years.”
An emergency disaster declaration was recently signed by President Joe Biden when the storm hit to ask for federal funds to assist the rebuilding of temporary shelters.
According to the governor’s spokesperson, 17 deaths were logged in New York, four in Westchester County, and the remaining are from New York City.
Most of the victims in New York City were stuck in prohibited basement apartments being the low-income residents’ only choice for shelter, Reuters reported.
Governor Phil Murphy’s spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the storm has taken 27 lives in New Jersey. Four others are still missing including a couple of college students that were last spotted on Wednesday in Passaic, New Jersey. According to reports, they might have been brought by the strong Passaic River water current as Ida hit.
