Clean-up work continues in several US states after catastrophic storms with dozens of deaths as a result of Hurricane Ida. In many places, houses, streets and railways are still under water, according to US media on Friday night (local time). Millions of people are still without electricity. The damage went into the millions. President Joe Biden plans to visit the disaster area in the south of the country in the afternoon.
According to emergency services, heavy rains and flooding killed 46 people Wednesday and Thursday in the Northeast of the country alone, including 23 in New Jersey, 16 in New York City and the surrounding area, five in Pennsylvania and one in Connecticut and Maryland. In addition, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), at least eight hurricanes caused severe damage, especially in New Jersey. The states of Louisiana and Mississippi have reported 13 more deaths since the arrival of “Ida” on Sunday, leaving at least 59 dead so far.
According to the White House, Biden will travel to Louisiana, New Orleans. According to data from the Poweroutage.us website, about 850,000 households and companies are still without electricity. “Ida” was the fourth (fifth) hurricane to make landfall in the southern United States. The storm then weakened the terrain and moved northeast.
In a very short time, the storm turned into rivers there on Wednesday evening, leaving people stranded in deadly mass water in their cars. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said, “It’s completely heartbreaking.” He spoke on CNN about the “catastrophic event” and the “unexpected downpour”. In New York’s Central Park, for example, 80 millimeters of rain fell within an hour – the highest peak of 49 millimeters in New York, reached only at the end of August, was actually powdered.
“We are in an era where historical rain is routine,” Hochul said. “It’s not a rare event anymore.” A state of emergency has been declared in New York City, the state of the same name, and New Jersey.
The White House announced Biden’s visit to the disaster area in New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon – just hours before the devastating rains in the Northeast. Biden said Thursday that “Ida” was the fifth major hurricane to hit the United States. Violent wildfires continue to burn in California, Western America. Biden promised victims of natural disasters.
“We need to be better prepared,” Biden wrote on Twitter. The US president has called on Congress to pass legislation that has made the fight against climate change one of his most important goals.
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