The nation is learning more about the more than 60 people killed by the storm. Many of the victims drowned in cars or were swept away by flood waters. In New York City, 11 people died as their low-lying apartments flooded with storm water. Among them were a man, a woman and a 2-year-old boy in Queens. Firefighters struggled to access fires in flooded homes and businesses in the Northeast, likely caused by gas leaks, and police traveled door to door, searching for victims as death tolls rose.
In the Northeast, at least 50 people died from Virginia to Connecticut. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama saw at least 14 deaths. Several deaths were also blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning from backup generators running improperly.
At least 17 deaths were blamed on Ida in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In the Northeast, Ida’s remnants dumped record-breaking rain and killed at least 50 people from Virginia to Connecticut.
The carnage comes days after Ida, one of the strongest storms to ever hit mainland U.S., ripped ashore in Louisiana before slamming into the Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday. As of now, Ida is the deadliest hurricane the U.S. has seen in four years and the deadliest storm in the Northeast since 2012's catastrophic Superstorm Sandy, which killed more than 100 people.
Outside of the city, the hardest-hit parts of the state remained without power and running water and with limited cellphone service and gasoline almost a week after Ida arrived in Louisiana.
Most residents in New Orleans will have power by Wednesday, but some of the hardest-hit areas – including Lafourche, Lower Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Charles and Terrebonne parishes– may be in the dark until the end of the month, Entergy estimates.
The storm damaged or destroyed more than 22,000 power poles, 26,000 spans of wire and 5,261 transformers – that’s more poles damaged or destroyed than hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined, the company said. At the peak, 902,000 customers had lost power.
Survivors struggle with damage left behind
Cleanup efforts continued Saturday as crews hauled debris and waterlogged vehicles, pumped homes swamped with floodwaters, and drained flooded highways. Meanwhile, families searched for loved ones lost in the storm, surveyed damage to their homes, and snapped photos for insurance claims. Others pumped water out of their flooded basements and cleared fallen trees. Many of them, for the first time, assessed what they lost to the murky waters.
President Joe Biden traveled to Louisiana over the weekend to survey the damage and announced he will travel to Manville, New Jersey, and Queens, New York, on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
