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| Satellite view of many of the hundreds of houses flooded in Manville, New Jersey Thursday. |
The incredible rainfall and flooding associated with former Hurricane Ida in the Northeast is as grim as it gets.
Deaths in disasters are always tragic to say the least and the 46 reported so far is no exception. It's an overwhelming disaster, so all I can do is give just some of the many thoughts I've had about this horrible storm.
BY THE NUMBERS
9.64. Inches of rain in from the storm in Staten Island
10. Number of tornadoes confirmed in the Northeast so far in this storm
150 mph: Strength of wind in strongest of the tornadoes, an EF-3 in New Jersey, likely the strongest in state history
113 Number of people confirmed rescued by FDNY. The actual number is likely much greater than that.
500 Minimum number of cars and trucks towed from the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx after water receded and revealed the destroyed vehicles.
27.66 feet: Record high crest on the Raritan River in Manville, New Jersey.
4 Number of tropical systems that have already affected the Northeast this year. We're only half way through the hurricane season.
DEATHS AND WARNINGS
Most victims were in cars that were swept away. I wonder about the messaging pre-flood that might have saved lives. I know this is Monday-morning quarterbacking.
People were warned days in advance that this flooding could be particularly severe. The National Weather Service offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York areas did an excellent job and issued flash flood emergencies. Calling it an emergency is supposed to be a kick in the pants. You're never supposed to be out driving in a flash flood anyway, but broadcasting an emergency is a hair on fire moment - this is really serious.
I think the problem is in an urban environment, people think they are safer. Sure, the car might stall in sudden high water, but you can get out. People picture truly dangerous flash floods as those walls of water, rock and mud that pour out mountains and into canyons out west, or rage through creek beds in the Appalachians.
They don't think the Garden State Expressway or the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx can become a death trap.
I also think people understood a lot of rain was coming, but didn't realize it would be in such a short period of time. After all, eight inches of rain over the course of a day is bad, but not as bad as eight inches of rain in six hours.
I read an article in Vice this morning that disturbed me. A lot of those gig outfits, think Uber, Door Dash, etc. offer bonuses to these gig workers if they work in very bad weather. So, looking to make extra money, a lot of these gig workers were out in the flash flood emergency working, and putting themselves in danger .
While these gig employers say they evaluate whether to continue to deliver in dangerous weather, I'm not buying that they do enough. And please, if you are under any kind of weather emergency or warning, please don't contact those food delivery outfits.
You are hunkering down to avoid going out in a flash flood, blizzard, tornado, whatever. Please don''t make delivery people go out in hazardous weather. Just stay in your house and cook your own goddamn dinner.
NYC/NEW JERSEY TRAGEDIES
In New York City itself, most of the deaths were people in basement apartments. The water burst through doors and walls, and people couldn't fight the extreme torrents to get out.
I really feel for the rescuers in New York who, as always in an extreme emergency, saved who knows how many lives. Think about how overwhelmed they must have been. FDNY wrote on Instagram:
"We were operating and getting numerous calls nonstop all night. We had everything from people trapped on their roofs, people trapped in completely submerged cars, trapped in basements with the doors stuck and water rapidly rising and with heavy currents of water everywhere."
Response times were slowed not only by the widespread flooding, but because the FDNY encountered lots of unreported emergencies on their way to the calls they received.
The news was horrifying to say the least, and you know there's going to be tens of billions of dollars in damage. Aerial shots of Somerset, New Jersey showed hundreds of flooded homes in just one neighborhood.
In other areas the flash flooding came and went, with water marks left behind reaching the first floor ceilings in some buildings.
CLIMATE CHANGE
One after another, elected officials and emergency officials in the affected Northeastern states went on camera Thursday and brought up climate change.
As always, that immediately turned into a political football. Against the backdrop of this disaster, Congress is struggling with a $3.2 billion infrastructure bill that would include a lot of funding to help mitigate climate change.
Republicans and conservatives panicked. Fox News desperately worked to downplay the issue, saying Democrats are "grifting" on the issue of climate change. Another Fox pundit went so far and ridiculous to say that data proving climate change is "never there."
Um, try a simple Google search, Fox bros!
LOUISIANA
Meanwhile, we can't forget Louisiana. The death toll there has risen to 11 and 900,000 people still don't have electricity.
More deaths are inevitable down there as stifling heat and humidity and the long-lasting lack of electricity are combining to make things deadly. The heat can kill people, generators can create deadly carbon monoxide and people can get hurt and killed trying to clean up with chain saws and whatever tools they're using.
Once again, as in Katrina, and in so many disasters in the United States, the poor, vulnerable and elderly seem targeted for abuse by profiteers or crooks just trying to save a buck.
In one incredibly infuriating case, more than 800 residents of seven evacuated nursing homes in Louisiana were literally warehoused. They were brought to a decrepit warehouse where they were put on mattresses on the floor, not fed and not socially distanced to protect against Covid. So far four of those elderly people died.
According to NBC: "The (Louisiana) Health Department...alleged that when health inspectors visited the center two days after Ida hit, they were 'expelled' and prevented from assessing conditions."
A lot of facts still need to come out, but why did the operator of the nursing homes put these people in the warehouse, try to cover it up, and not reach out for help to move the people in their care to safer places? To not lose money, probably. Hell, who cares of some old people die, as long as I keep my cash, right?
That seems to be the prevailing attitude in some circles today. The 843 people who were brought to that awful warehouse have since been moved to safer locations.
I worry more said crimes against disaster victims will surface. The vast majority of Americans are super generous toward people hit by these weather extremes. Too bad a few cheats want to dismantle that aid.
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