Reports show that Hurricane Ida's death toll has risen due to massive floods on the United States East Coast.
CBN News said Hurricane Ida left the Eastern Coast in a state of shock for its flash floods, tornadoes, and record-breaking deadly rain that left 46 casualties from Connecticut to Maryland.
Reuters, on the other hand, revealed that a minimum of 13 people died in Louisiana where Hurricane Ida originally landed on August 29 and an additional 50 people died in the East Coast as per data on Sunday. Four of the said recorded deaths in Louisiana were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from power generators.
Hurricane Ida rose to a Category 4 storm in Louisiana before it left the state without power on Monday due to electrical transmission lines down--affecting 1 million customers-caused by sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour. Mississippi was similarly affected by the storm as 100,000 customers had no electricity. As of Friday, 900,000 people still had no electricity and roughly 185,000 had no water in the state.
But the storm moved inland to the Eastern Coasts with weakened winds that nonetheless resulted into flash floods due to its record-breaking rainfall of 3.1 inches per hour by Wednesday. The flash floods destroyed 1,200 homes, affected public transport systems and businesses, and resulting to at least $50 million in damages in New York alone.
Accordingly, New York City's subway system was shut down by officials when it was overwhelmed by the floods that trapped 835 passengers, which were rescued by local police. The city also recorded a total of 500 vehicles abandoned by drivers due to the floods. This excludes the confirmed 17 people who died in the state due to the storm.
There were also 27 confirmed dead in New Jersey, one in Connecticut, at least one in Maryland, and at least four in Pennsylvania. The casualty in Connecticut is said to be state trooper on duty whose patrol car was swept by floodwaters in a junction of three rivers. One of the said state trooper's colleague said he was a "well respected" trooper who is "one of the senior sergeants on the state police."
Hundreds of calls for water rescues where reported in Pennsylvania when Philadelphia's Schuylkill River rose "as high as an overpass." Among the dozen people and animals rescued by the National Guard in the state, Jake Blank expressed gratitude for being saved from the deep flood that submerged the building he was in.
"We really appreciate it you know. You don't really expect these types of things to happen when you're in a big building like this," Blank told CBN News in an interview.
Businesses that were reported to have been paralyzed by Ida included the U.S. Gulf of Mexico whose oil production and more than 80% of crude oil and natural gas production were still suspended as of Sunday.
Prayers were requested by those affected by Hurricane Ida when it left Louisiana. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops President Archbishop Jose Gomez responded to the said request on Tuesday through a statement urging "people of goodwill" to "stand in solidarity" to those affected through prayers and by giving to charities for "their recovery."
"I call on people of good will to join me in praying for the safety, well-being, and protection of everyone in these impacted areas. We also pray in a special way for the first responders, health care workers, and emergency personnel who bring relief, comfort, and healing. I urge our Catholic faithful and all people of good will across the country to stand in solidarity with these impacted communities," Gomez said.
President Joe Biden declared Louisiana and Mississippi as major disaster areas on Monday followed by New Jersey on Sunday. Biden initially approved an emergency declaration for New Jersey and the New York on Thursday.
Readers are urged to pray for those affected by Hurricane Ida.
