NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- At least nine deaths were reported in New York City and New Jersey as record rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida sent the area into a state of emergency early Thursday.
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Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy all declared states of emergency. De Blasio said the city was “enduring an historic weather event” as the National Weather Service office in New York declared its first-ever set of flash flood emergencies in the region Wednesday night.
Here’s what to know:
NEW YORK CITY:
• The NYPD reported at least eight weather-related deaths, including a 50-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman and a 2-year-old boy in a flooded basement in Woodside. The other fatalities were also from flooding conditions at homes in Queens and Brooklyn: a 48-year-old woman in Forest Hills; a 43-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man in Jamaica; an 86-year-old woman in Elmhurst; and a 66-year-old man in Cypress Hills.
• Subway stations and tracks became so flooded that the MTA suspended all service.
• Videos posted online showed subway riders standing on seats in cars filled with water. Some people had to be evacuated from the system.
• The FDR Drive and the Bronx River Parkway were under water by late Wednesday evening.
• Other videos showed vehicles submerged up to their windows on major roadways in and around the city and garbage bobbing down the streets.
• The National Weather Service recorded 3.15 inches of rain in Central Park in one hour Wednesday night—its wettest hour ever recorded.
• New York City's travel ban expired at 5 a.m. but a travel advisory remains in effect. All non-emergency vehicles are advised to stay off of NYC streets and highways while clean-up continues.
NEW JERSEY:
• At least one death was reported in New Jersey. Passaic Mayor Hector Lora told news outlets that someone died in the city after being submerged in their car.
• Social media posts showed homes reduced to rubble in southern New Jersey, not far from where the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado Wednesday evening.
• Multiple tornadoes were reported on the ground.
• The roof collapsed at the Postal Service building in Kearny, New Jersey, with people inside. Rescue crews were on scene into the night, with no immediate word on the number of people or severity of injuries.
• Utilities reported hundreds of thousands of customers without power in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• Hundreds of cars were abandoned across Bergen County. Crews were trying to remove them Thursday morning so roads could reopen, according to county executive James Tedesco.
TRANSIT:
• Service across the subway system is extremely limited Thursday after service was suspended overnight. Bus service is almost fully operational.
• Janno Lieber, acting MTA chair and CEO said, “Torrential rains caused massive amounts of water to enter subways and flood roads, creating severe disruptions to service.”
• The LIRR restored extremely limited westbound service to Penn Station; Eastbound service remains suspended systemwide due to the impacts of flooding, downed trees and power outages.
• Metro-North service is suspended.
• All NJ Transit rail service, except the Atlantic City Rail Line, remains suspended on Thursday due to the storm impacts. Newark Light Rail is also suspended.
• All Amtrak service between Philadelphia and Boston with an initial departure before 9 a.m. Thursday was canceled.
• Newark Airport experienced "severe flooding," causing officials to temporarily suspend all flight activity.
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