A stunned U.S. East Coast woke up Thursday to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which walloped the region with record-breaking rain days after hitting the Gulf Coast as one of the strongest hurricanes on record to strike the U.S.
In a region that hadn't expected a serious blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 18 people from Maryland to New York on Wednesday night as basement apartments suddenly filled with water, rivers and creeks swelled to record levels and roadways turned into car-swallowing canals.
A section of Route 24 in southeastern Massachusetts was shut down because of water on the highway. In Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a road crumbled under the onslaught of rain.
Waves slam along the shore near high tide as the remnants of Hurricane Ida leave coastal Massachusetts on Thursday, Sept. 2, in Scituate, Mass. (Charles Krupa/AP)A pylon blocks pedestrian traffic from the path along the edge of the flooded pond at the Boston Public Garden on Thursday. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)A family at the Boston Public Garden turns around after attempting to walk on a path now covered in water on Thursday. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)Children launch homemade sailboats as a resident wades through a flooded street to check on a neighbor's house after the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed through the area, Thursday, Sep. 2, 2021, in Narragansett, R.I. (David Goldman/AP)A person walks on a flooded street as the Schuylkill River exceeds its bank in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 2 in the aftermath of downpours and high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that hit the area. (Matt Rourke/AP)Vehicles are under water during flooding in Philadelphia, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021 in the aftermath of downpours and high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that hit the area. (Matt Rourke/AP)People look at a flooded street as the Schuylkill River exceeds its bank in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, Thursday, Sept. 2 in the aftermath of downpours and high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that hit the area. (Matt Rourke/AP)This photo provided by the New York City Police Department shows flooding on New York York's Upper East Side, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. The remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated large swaths of the northeastern U.S. with historic and unanticipated fury Wednesday night, killing several people in flooding in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (New York City Police Department. via AP)
