Flood warnings are in effect for the Saddle River in Lodi, New Jersey, and the Ramapo River in northern New Jersey and Orange and Rockland Counties in New York, where roads have been submerged by the rising waters.
Because of the severity of several storms this summer that exposed the region’s vulnerability to increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events brought on by climate change, authorities moved quickly to get ready for the nor’easter.
There is no sign of Ida today, but “every storm has to be taken seriously,” Joseph Fiordaliso, New Jersey’s utility board president, said at a news conference.
A normal rainstorm may come at some point in the future. We don’t seem to get those as often as we used to.” he said. “Climate change is real, and we must do everything we can in order to mitigate it. ”
Eleven people died in New York City basement apartments last month when Ida’s torrential rain unleashed rushing waters, including a toddler and his parents. The remnants of Hurricane Irene killed at least 43 people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
James Barron, Ellen Barry, Johnny Diaz, Precious Fondren, Michael Gold, Azi Paybarah, Dana Rubinstein, Ed Shanahan, Derrick Bryson Taylor, Tracey Tully, and Mihir Zaveri contributed to the reporting.
