At least 45 deaths as remnants of Hurricane Ida hit Northeast U.S.

NEW YORK, NY — A stunned U.S. East Coast is facing a rising death toll, surging rivers, tornado damage and continuing calls for rescue after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain.

At least 45 deaths have been linked to flooding from Maryland to New York from the storm's strike Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Officials said at least 12 people died in New York City and three in suburban Westchester County.

Authorities said at least 23 died in New Jersey and at least five in Pennsylvania.

In Connecticut, a state trooper died after his cruiser was swept away. Another death was reported in Maryland.

Northeast shocked by ferocity and speed flooding

The rate of rainfall was stunning and sometimes unprecedented.

New York's Central Park recorded its wettest hour on record, with 3.15 inches falling from 8:51 to 9:51 p.m. The park's total rainfall -- 7.13 inches -- was its fifth-highest total for one day.

Newark, New Jersey, received its highest one-day total on record: 8.41 inches.

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic areas were under flash-flood watches earlier Wednesday as the remnants of Ida -- which made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as a major hurricane and devastated parts of that state -- approached.

Ida transitioned from a tropical depression to a post-tropical cyclone over the Appalachians on Wednesday morning as it rolled into the Northeast. Heavy rain was expected -- but where, precisely, the heaviest rain would fall wasn't known until shortly before it happened, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Thursday.

"People are just shocked by this," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "I mean this is an event that we planned for -- we started deploying resources to the region the night before and in the morning before."

"But once that rain starts coming down and it's just unrelenting, there's nothing that the people can do other than look up with their jaws dropped and say, 'What is happening here?'" Hochul said.

After the storm, New York's subway system was temporarily halted with the exception of two lines due to the flooding, leaving many people stranded and unsure how they would get home.

Some were idled on a subway near Times Square around 1:20 a.m. after traveling from the US Open tennis tournament in Queens. Videos from the station showed a waterfall flowing off of the train car roof and onto people trying to get out -- as well as a drink kiosk being whirled around by the wind.

While some subway service resumed Thursday, commuter rail lines were expected to offer only extremely limited service because of power issues and debris, officials said.

Some air travel also was snarled: Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal B was flooded on the lower level. More than 350 flights were canceled at that airport by 8 a.m. ET.

New Jersey: Tornado in the south, flooding in the north

In southern New Jersey, a tornado destroyed or severely damaged 25 homes in Mullica Hill, about 25 miles from Philadelphia, police Lt. David Marrow said.

Hundreds of trees were downed, and power was knocked out for a third of the township, Marrow said. No deaths were reported there, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.

"This is going to take some time to dig out of, there's no question about it," Murphy said Thursday, standing in front of one of the wrecked homes.

Kristi Johnson was on the phone with her husband and in a parked vehicle when she saw the twister and debris.

"I rolled my window down and it sounded like a train coming. I hung up on my husband and started to drive away from it," Johnson said. "It was extremely scary."

Many towns in the northern New Jersey reported widespread flooding that damaged homes and businesses and forced drivers to abandon their cars.

In Clifton, a fire ambulance was seen submerged in the floodwaters along with several other submerged vehicles.

Flooding in Philadelphia; 41 rescued from Pennsylvania school bus

Parts of the Philadelphia area flooded, leaving some vehicles still underwater in streets and highways Thursday morning. The Schuylkill River was more 2 feet above major flood stage at one point in the morning.

At least 100 people had been rescued from floodwaters in Philadelphia alone as of noon Thursday -- and rescues were expected to continue at least into the evening, city Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.

Pennsylvania is slowly moving into "recovery mode" and there was a "long road ahead of us, Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday.

"I know many people in Pennsylvania are hurting," Wolf said, adding that the southeastern part of the state appears to have sustained the most damage.

At least 500 calls for rescue were fielded in Montgomery County north of Philadelphia, said Padfield, the state emergency management director. That includes the Montgomery County borough of Bridgeport, where rescue teams were using boats to reach people stranded in flooded apartments.

About 50 residents had been rescued Thursday morning, and a few more blocks still needed to be checked, Bridgeport borough manager Keith Truman said. Similar rescuer were happening Thursday morning near Wilmington, Delaware.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the storm had trapped a school bus in floodwaters in Shaler Township. The school district and local volunteer fire company confirmed that 41 passengers were rescued from the bus.

A team of at least four waded through water nearly up to their waist to help the passengers onto a small boat. The rescued students were then transported safely to the high school, Shaler Area School District said.

With a flash flood emergency and tornado watch, Wolf encouraged residents to stay home Wednesday and take the storm seriously.

"This is an extremely dangerous storm that is impacting the entire state," said Wolf. "As we continue to monitor the conditions, I ask everyone to please stay home if you're able."

In Maryland, Ida's downpour flooded at least 12 apartments at the the Rock Creek Woods complex in Rockville, where a 19-year-old man was found dead. Rescue personnel evacuated dozens of people there, officials said.

Three people and one firefighter were transported to hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.

A tornado also touched down in the state, according to Bud Zapata, the Annapolis Fire Department Public Information Officer.

The tornado was reported to have touched down in a primarily commercial area of Annapolis. No injuries have been reported, but some private residences were damaged and there was an active gas leak in the area. Fire, police and other agencies were assessing damage, Zapata said.