Ida killed 25 in New Jersey

The remnants of Hurricane Ida resulted in a New Jersey death toll that climbed to 25 as rescuers continue searching for at least six people who have been reported missing across the state. Since making landfall on Sunday near Port Fourchon, La., as a Category 4 hurricane, Ida killed at least 60 people across six states, knocking out electricity for more than 1 million people, flooding homes and collapsing buildings.

The storm ranks among the deadliest on record in New Jersey, close behind the 40 New Jersey residents who reportedly died during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

“All of these deaths are related directly or indirectly to flooding and water – either in cars or homes,” said Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday morning on NBC’s Today show. “It’s an absolute tragedy.”

The remnants of Hurricane Ida caused flash flooding that disrupted transit across New Jersey and throughout the Northeast, where the historic deluge killed at least 44 people across the Garden State, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

For some progressive activists, the storm’s onslaught sounded alarms warning about the need for more aggressive moves to respond to a dangerously changing climate.

Nobody was killed in a series of tornadoes that struck several places in the state’s southern region, but at least two dozen people died in homes and cars that were overwhelmed by flooding in northern and central New Jersey.