Torrential rainfall quickly transformed New York City’s streets and expressways into rivers and lakes on Wednesday night September 2, 2021, shutting down the entire metro system (the first time since Hurricane Sandy) and forcing traffic throughout the city to come to a halt. Air traffic was interrupted, and businesses had to close, causing an estimated 16 billion to 24 billion dollars in flood damage to the Northeast. At least 13 people died that night in New York, and at least 44 throughout the Northeast—more than the total in the southern US from Ida’s initial landfall as a strong Category 4 storm. With a total damage of approximately 98 billion dollars, Ida might become the seventh most expensive hurricane in recent US history. In a nonstationary climate due to ongoing anthropogenic climate change, we will see more events like this. Mitigation measures must be prioritized to address the rising risk from ever increasing frequency and magnitude of rainfall extremes.
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Source: Phys.org