Ida’s path of destruction in N.J.: Rising death toll, epic flooding, fierce

Roadways turned into rivers. Downed trees and power lines blocked roads and damaged houses. And a tornado ripped through a southern Jersey town, destroying at least 20 houses.

In one of the fiercest storms to hit New Jersey in recent years, Tropical Storm Ida delivered a knockout punch, wreaking havoc across the state as it took lives, flooded downtowns and caused untold millions of dollars in damage.

As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, at least 10 people in New Jersey died from the storm, including four who died in an apartment complex in Elizabeth.

Ida left few areas in New Jersey unscathed, with the destruction spanning the state from Passaic County in the north to Gloucester County down south. While the storm had been predicted to have a massive impact — Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties — the destruction, at first look Thursday morning, was far greater than many had feared.

“There is a lot of hurt in New Jersey,” Murphy said Thursday morning as he pledged to use all resources available to help residents deal with the widespread damage. “We’re pulling all the levers. It’s going to be a long road,” he said as he implored people to stay off the roads.

Ida’s confirmed death toll as of noon Thursday surpassed the state’s losses from both Hurricane Floyd and Irene, and the numbers may still rise as rescue and recovery crews continue their searches.

In 2011, nine people in New Jersey died from Hurricane Irene, most from drowning in the raging flood waters while trapped inside their cars. Six people drowned in New Jersey during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, including two deaths each in Somerset and Bergen counties and one each in Passaic and Salem counties. At least 40 people from New Jersey died during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The worst flooding from Ida may be yet to come. As of midday Thursday, some rivers had not yet reached their peak flood stage.

The Passaic River in Pine Brook and Little Falls, the Raritan River in Bound Brook and the Assunpink Creek in Trenton are forecast by the National Weather Service to keep rising until 6 p.m. Friday. The Delaware River at Easton/Phillipsburg is forecast to crest around 6 p.m. on Thursday, the weather service said.

The storm also upended transportation across the state, temporarily shutting down Newark International Airport Wednesday night, with nearly 400 flights canceled. Flooding closed part of one terminal and some roads remain closed. Teterboro Airport was also shut down with flooding. NJ Transit rail service is still suspended, except for the Atlantic City Rail Line, while buses are running with localized delays as they encounter roads closed by flooding and downed trees.

More than 60,000 people remained without power as of midday Thursday. For PSE&G customers, Essex County had the most outages with more than 14,000. JCP&L’s outages included more than 8,000 in Morris, nearly 8,000 in Hunterdon and more than 7,500 in Sussex counties.

Because the waters of the Raritan River spilled across Route 18 in New Brunswick and were still rising Thursday, Rutgers’ postponed its football season opener against Temple until Saturday.