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Ida triggers massive flooding across Northeast

By Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Joshua Berlinger, Amy Woodyatt, Aditi Sangal, Adam Renton and Ed Upright, CNN

Updated 12:01 AM ET, Fri September 3, 2021

19 Posts

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3:39 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

Ida brought historic amounts of rain to New York and New Jersey

People make their way in rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 1, in the Bronx, New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

The remnants of Ida brought record levels of rain to the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States. Here are some of the records that fell:

New York City issued its first-ever flash flood emergency.
Central Park itself saw several records:
The park recorded its wettest hour on record, with 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) from 8:51 to 9:51 p.m. ET. The previous wettest hour was recorded just two weeks ago during the "We Love NYC" concert.
The rainfall in Central Park was a 1-in-500 year rainfall event, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rainfall frequency data, with 5.2 inches (132 millimeters) falling in only three hours.
The park recorded 6.95 inches (176 millimeters) of rain on Wednesday, making it one of the five wettest days in its recorded history. Weather records have been kept in Central Park since 1869.
Newark, New Jersey experienced its wettest day in recorded history on Wednesday. The city saw 8.32 inches (211 millimeters) of rain, shattering the old record, set in 1977, of 6.73 inches (171 millimeters).
In fact, Newark nearly reached its single-day record in just one three-hour period that saw 6.42 inches (163) pour down. To put that in context, NOAA considers 5.88 inches in that area in three hours a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event.
Flash Flood Emergencies, which are very rarely issued by the National Weather Service to indicate the imminent threat of catastrophic floods, stretched for 190 miles (306 kilometers) from west of Philadelphia through New York City.

3:31 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

Weather leads to delays and cancellations on Amtrak

From CNN's Alta Spells

Heavy rains in some areas of the northeastern United States has lead to delays and cancellations for Amtrak, a spokeswoman for the passenger rail service said.

"Due to weather issues along the Northeast Corridor, we do have a few trains that are significantly delayed or were canceled overnight. We continue to closely monitor and as of now, have not made any service adjustments for morning service," said the spokesperson, Christina Leeds.

Earlier in the morning, the Amtrak Northeast Twitter account also posted about lengthy delays of trains between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Haven, Connecticut, because of the severe weather conditions.

2:50 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

Ida's connection to climate change

From CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller

A person walks through floodwaters on Newark Street caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenching the New York City and New Jersey area on September 1 in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Extreme rainfall rates like those seen in New York and New Jersey, as well as other recent extreme rainfall events in Tennessee, Germany and China, are becoming more common because of human-caused global warming, scientists say.

A recent UN climate report stated, “the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events have increased since the 1950s over most land area.”

In the US specifically, the heaviest downpours have been observed to be increasing in all regions of the continental US, with the Northeast US showing the largest increase, according to the US National Climate Assessment.

"Warmer air can contain more water vapor than cooler air. Global analyses show that the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere has in fact increased over both land and oceans," the report says.

2:40 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

A tornado ripped through Gloucester County, New Jersey, destroying multiple homes

A tornado swept through New Jersey's Gloucester County on Wednesday, damaging multiple homes, according to CNN affiliate WPVI.

Video of the storm shows multiple residences destroyed in the county's Mullica Hill neighborhood.

One resident said she heard the tornado approaching then saw all her backyard furniture swept away by the winds.

“I looked up and I saw my furniture just … whoosh,” Danielle Brenza told WPVI.
“My backyard furniture just went and then we just went down into the basement,” she said.

2:13 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

People are stuck at the US Open, and authorities are trying to get them home

From CNN's Mark Moraless

Rain enters the court through the outer openings of the roof causing a delay during the match between South Africa's Kevin Anderson and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman at the 2021 US Open on September 1 in New York. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

The United States Tennis Association is working with New York authorities to identify routes to get fans home from the US Open, according to spokesperson Chris Widmaier.

The USTA is sending vehicles out to look for routes away from the venue at Flushing Meadows, Queens, according to Widmaier.

“Our goal is to get people out safely,” he said.

Limited train services are running from stations near the venue, Widmaier said.

The US Open, tennis' final major tournament of the year, is scheduled to run until September 12.

2:04 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

1 person has died in the flooding in Passaic, New Jersey, says mayor

From CNN's Alta Spells

At least one person was killed in the flash flooding that inundated the New Jersey city of Passaic, Mayor Hector Lora said.

Lora told CNN's Don Lemon the body of an elderly man in his seventies was retrieved from floodwaters. The vehicle the man was riding in was overtaken by water and firefighters were swept under it, making it nearly impossible for them to reach the man.

Firefighters were able to rescue two other individuals from the vehicle, according to the mayor.

1:58 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

It will likely stop raining in New York City as the rainfall moves northeast

From CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller

The band of extremely heavy rain that dumped record rainfall and brought flash floods to New Jersey and New York City is currently stretching from eastern Long Island into eastern Connecticut. One-hour rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches are being indicated on radar in this area.

The rain in New York City appears to be ending.

Over the next several hours, this band will move into Rhode Island and Massachusetts, bringing potential dangerous flooding to other cities, like Providence and Boston.

1:52 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

How much water fell in New York City? Here's an estimate

From CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller

Between 7 p.m. and midnight Eastern time, 6.8 inches (173 millimeters) of rain fell over Central Park.

Assuming that amount of rain fell equally over the 302 square miles (782 square kilometers) that make up all five boroughs of New York City — which may not actually be the case — then it would mean a whopping 35 billion gallons (132 billion liters) of water fell on the city between 7 p.m. and midnight.

Whatever the actual amount is, there is so much rain that the National Weather Service's New York City office is warning residents to stay off the streets.

1:50 a.m. ET, September 2, 2021

All New Jersey Transit rail service is suspended due to extreme weather

From CNN’s Keith Allen

Flood waters can be seen in New York's Penn Station Wednesday, September 1 during the record-breaking rainfall due to remnants of Hurricane Ida hitting Northern New Jersey and New York City. (Rainmaker Photos/MediaPunch /IPX)

All New Jersey Transit rail service, with the exception of the Atlantic City Rail Line, has been suspended due to the extreme weather conditions caused by the remnants of Ida, the transit service posted on their official website.

All light rail and buses “are subject to suspensions, detours and delays,” due to the heavy rains and flooding that lashed the area Wednesday night, NJ Transit said.