Month: September 2021

President Biden approved major disaster declarations in New York City and New Jersey following last week’s catastrophic flash flooding due to remnants from Hurricane Ida. The storm dropped historic rainfall on a large swath of the northeast stretching from Philadelphia to Massachusetts and hit the New York City metropolitan area particularly hard, with the entire region under a flash flood emergency for most of the night Wednesday. Flash flooding flooded homes, roads and apartments, and at least 41 people died in the storm, with officials still looking for some people who are still missing.

Biden is set to visit New York City and Manville, New Jersey on Tuesday to survey the damage of these hard-hit areas. The disaster declarations cover Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County in New York as well as Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset counties in New Jersey. The disaster declarations means that residents and business owners affected by flooding and other damage can apply for a bevy of Federal Emergency Management Administration programs to clean up, make repairs and get temporary housing.

On Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday’s storm caused at least $50 million in damages. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent part of the morning touring of storm damage in Queens with Deanne Criswell, the former city emergency management chief who’s now administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At least 17 people died in New York following Ida’s historic and devastating flooding last week.

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The Justice Department vowed Monday to protect the safety of women seeking access to reproductive health care in Texas. In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he will tap “support from federal law enforcement” if an “abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack” and said the DOJ will explore “all options” to challenge the state’s strict new abortion law.

Garland, citing authority under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act — or FACE Act — said the federal government will not tolerate any “threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.” Garland added that the Justice Department will “protect the constitutional rights of women and other persons, including access to an abortion” as the Biden administration seeks to challenge the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 8.

Signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in May, ‘SB8’ outlaws abortions when a heartbeat is detectable, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy. It will deny the procedure to about 85% of patients who seek it in the state. The ban is enforced by members of the public who are able to sue anyone who provides or is involved in aiding and performing abortions barred by SB8, including anyone who drives a patient to the procedure. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court voted against an emergency petition from abortion providers and advocates to block the law.

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The death toll drastically rose on Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the Northeast, causing historic flooding, tornado damage and record-breaking rain. The storm killed at least 45 people from Maryland to Connecticut from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. On Sunday, Ida first struck Louisiana as a hurricane, becoming the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland, and leaving 1 million people without power for weeks.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people died in the state. At least 12 people in New York City were killed, and suburban Westchester County, NY reported at least three deaths. Officials reported at least five deaths in Pennsylvania, and in Connecticut a state police sergeant was killed, while another death was reported in Maryland.

Ida’s remnants merged with a more traditional storm front to drop massive amounts of rain on the Interstate 95 corridor, meteorologists said. The National Hurricane Center had warned since Tuesday of the potential for “significant and life-threatening flash flooding” in the mid-Atlantic region and New England. Wednesday’s storm ultimately dumped over 9 inches of rain in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and nearly as much on New York City’s Staten Island. The storm also spawned at least seven tornadoes. According to the National Weather Service, tornadoes were confirmed in Cape Cod, suburban Philadelphia and Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

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