At least two people of Indian-origin died during flash floods triggered by Hurricane Ida in New Jersey, news agency PTI reported quoting local news agencies. Hurricane Ida, according to weather experts, was the second-most destructive hurricane to hit New Jersey after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Hurricane Ida transformed into a post-tropical cyclone on September 1. It caused the deaths of 65 people in the US with most deaths reported from New Jersey, New York and Louisiana, after making a landfall in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on August 29.
Malathi Kanche, 46, a software designer and Danush Reddy, 31, were swept away by flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida. Kanche was with her 15-year-old daughter on Wednesday when her vehicle halted in waist-deep flood water near Bridgewater in New Jersey, news agency PTI reported citing a report by the New York Times. She and her daughter held onto a tree as floodwaters pulled them but the tree fell, pulling Kanche in the torrent, their family friend Mansi Mago told the news agency. Kanche was earlier put on the list of ‘missing persons’ and the police confirmed her death on Friday.
Reddy was stranded in the flood in South Plainfield, New Jersey and fell near a 36-inch-wide sewer pipe after losing his balance. Officials said Reddy’s body was pulled into the drain pipe and was later found miles away.
Hurricane Ida caused damage to civic infrastructure as it caused flash floods in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Louisiana. Official figures say that Ida caused damages worth $50 billion dollars. Experts say that such severe floods, like the one caused after Hurricane Ida, which are caused once in a century, could become an annual occurrence if steps are not taken to address global warming and other effects of climate change.