At least nine people have been killed after Storm Ida dumped a month’s worth of rain on parts of the US.
States of emergency were declared in New York and New Jersey as the remnants of a hurricane sparked flash floods that forced New York City to suspend its subway services.
Last night, the city suffered its wettest hour on record, with more than 80mm of rain falling in Central Park in the space of 60 minutes.
That eclipsed the previous record of 49mm that was set in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Henri just last month.
The dead also include a 48-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man found at separate residences, and a 43-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man discovered inside a home.
The city’s fire department said it responded to a report of flooding in Queens shortly after 11pm and one person taken from the building was pronounced dead.
Another victim in Passaic, New Jersey, was found dead in a vehicle that went underwater when it was caught in flooding near the Passaic River, according to the town’s mayor.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday was the first time it had issued a “flash flood emergency” for New York City.