In major American economic and cultural cities, police have counted at least 13 dead, including many likely trapped and drowned in basements, primitive, sometimes unsanitary dwellings arranged at the foot of buildings in Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn.

Firefighters rescued hundreds of residents.

Just north of Manhattan in upscale coastal Westchester county, which was still surrounded by muddy, brackish water Thursday night, one of its officials, George Latimer, told CNN that three people who tried to get out of their car also likely drowned.

A police officer assigned to guard traffic in neighboring Connecticut has died.

But the worst toll was for New Jersey, a state facing New York, where “at least 23 people lost their lives,” Governor Phil Murphy said. Most of the victims were taken by surprise, the official said, got stuck in their cars and may have drowned.

Finally, four people were killed near Philadelphia, according to local authorities.

Streets, roads, and highways suddenly turned into torrents, in both Brooklyn and Queens boroughs. In Westchester, dozens of vehicles were still submerged on the roofs on Thursday and the basements of traditional water-ravaged East Coast homes sometimes rose to two feet.

“I have the impression that I have lost everything,” Mamaronic town mechanic Marcio Rodriguez said as he cried in his flooded workshop.

In New York, the giant subway network was partially restarted Thursday, after several stations were flooded.

The NWS recorded an all-time high of 80 millimeters of rain in one hour in Central Park.

” Emergency ”

“I am 50 years old and have never seen such heavy rain,” said Metodija Mihaglof, owner of a restaurant on the very elegant Upper West Side, near the famous park, the green lung of New York. “It was like it was in the jungle, tropical rain. Unbelievable,” the merchant added.

At midnight, New York State’s new governor, Cathy Hochhol, declared a “state of emergency” in the wake of “major” flooding in all of the city’s border counties, potentially affecting about 20 million residents. population. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose city is barely recovering from the pandemic, lamented a “historic meteorological event.”

The US Meteorological Service reported that a “state of emergency” for flooding was unprecedented in New York City.

Hurricanes and massive flooding also hit Pennsylvania, New Jersey – also under the emergency – and Maryland.

Cape Cod Tornado

On Thursday, New Yorkers were cleaning their basements and several politicians pointed the finger at climate change, two weeks after heavy rain from Storm Henry and nine years after Hurricane Sandy. New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer warned that “global warming is catching up with us and will only get worse if we do nothing.”

Hurricanes and storms are a frequent phenomenon in the United States. Scientists warn that rising ocean surface temperatures are helping to make storms stronger.

In particular, they pose an increased risk to coastal communities, victims of the phenomenon of wave inundation amplified by rising sea levels.

President Joe Biden will travel to Louisiana on Friday, the first state to sufferIda Many buildings have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of homes are still being deprived of electricity. “We are all together. The nation is ready to help,” the White House tenant said.

downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, Ida Dark Thursday night over New England. A hurricane hit the highly touristy Cape Cod Peninsula in Massachusetts.