Emergency declared in New York after record rain

NEW YORK • The remnants of Hurricane Ida ripped through New York, New Jersey and across the north-east United States early yesterday morning, triggering tornadoes, thunderstorms and torrential rain that inundated streets and paralysed transport services.

Videos of the flooding posted on social media showed major roads, airport terminals, baseball stadiums and subway stations turned into wading pools.

Tornadoes hit Maryland and New Jersey, where NBC News reported at least two deaths.

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared an emergency for New York City and Governor Kathy Hochul did the same for the state.

Mr de Blasio said in a tweet: "We're enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads."

Emergency flash flood warnings were posted from Delaware to Massachusetts.

The New York Post reported that four people had died in Queens and Brooklyn after getting trapped in their basements.

The deluge came less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Henri dumped a record amount of rain on New York City, and is the latest in a string of extreme weather events recorded around the world this year as climate change takes hold.

Massive wildfires raging in California have blackened huge swathes of the state, western Canada and Siberia, sending smoke over the North Pole for the first time on record.

Ida smashed into Louisiana on Sunday with record 241kmh winds, leaving more than one million residents across the south, including New Orleans, without electric power and killing at least five people.

The north-east US has had a particularly wet summer, with the saturated soil leaving the latest rainfall with no place to go.

The National Weather Service earlier issued a Flash Flood Emergency alert for New York City and north-east New Jersey, a rare declaration that exceeds a warning designation. The service said it was the first time it has sent out one for the region.

The service also issued a tornado warning for Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City, which expired at 9.30pm. A tornado watch remained in effect across New York City until 1am. A flash flood warning remained in place for large parts of Long Island.

Mr de Blasio said bridges and tunnels remained open, but roads were flooded around the city, with just the top of some cars peeking out.

The city's fire and police departments are prepared to assist if needed, he said in an interview on local news station NY1. "The part I'm worried about particularly is folks out on the road," he added.

The city's subway system experienced severe service limitations as water poured onto underground platforms in Manhattan.

Three branches of the Metro North Rail Road, which connects to the northern suburbs, were suspended, said spokesman Tim Minton for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the city's buses, subways and commuter rail lines.

The Long Island Rail Road train service was suspended on all lines between Penn Station and Jamaica and between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica.

In addition to ground travel, 392 flights were cancelled at Newark's Liberty International Airport by 11.30pm, according to Flight Aware, an airline tracking service.

BLOOMBERG