Storm Ida kills at least 58 after flooding and tornadoes battered US
At least 58 people have died in the US as the country’s northeastern states struggled with the remnants of Storm Ida.
The deaths include at least four people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Louisiana, two dead in Mississippi after torrential rain caused a highway to collapse, and a number of people killed after their cars were swept away in floodwaters – one of them a Connecticut state trooper.
States reported:
• 23 deaths in New Jersey
• 16 deaths in New York
• 11 deaths in Louisiana
• Two deaths in Mississippi
• Two deaths in Alabama
• Two deaths in Pennsylvania
• One death in Maryland
• One death in Connecticut
Many of the deaths in New York were in flooded apartments, such as a family of three, including a toddler, who were not able to get out before the water rushed into their home.
Sophy Liu tried to use towels and rubbish bags to stop the water from entering her first-floor apartment but it rose as high as her chest in half an hour.
She escaped with her son, protecting him with a life jacket and inflatable swimming ring.
The front door was stuck but friends were able to open it from the outside, she said.
Rainfall in New York’s Central Park broke a 94-year record, while Newark, New Jersey, smashed a 62-year record, the National Weather Service said.
Hundreds of vehicles were abandoned on flooded highways, rubbish bobbed along in the water, and the city’s subway tunnels were overwhelmed, with at least 17 trains trapped.
Video footage showed passengers standing on seats in train carriages as the water rose, but NBC reported that 835 people were safely rescued.
Ida was the fifth most powerful storm to hit the US when it reached Louisiana on Sunday as a hurricane, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.
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It wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast as it was downgraded to a tropical storm, before causing flooding and at least 10 tornadoes, including one with 150mph winds that destroyed homes in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.
Jeanine Zubrzycki, 33, hid in the basement with her three children as their home shook, and said: “It just came through and ripped… and then you could just hear people crying.”
Similar weather has followed hurricanes before but experts said this situation was made worse by climate change – warmer air holds more rain.
The fact that cities have more concrete also had an effect, as concrete stops the water from being absorbed by the ground.
Across the US, one million homes have been left without power, and thousands of people have been made homeless.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
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