AFP UK

NASA’s Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth — probably.

Its first effort earlier this month failed after the rock was too crumbly to withstand the robot’s drill, but data received late on September 1 indicates the process worked this time around.

The US space agency said Thursday it remains a little uncertain, because images taken after the rover’s arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions.

More images taken under better lighting are expected back by Saturday.

“The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock,” Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.

“We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube.”

The target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed “Rochette” from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long. 

Perseverance, NASA’s latest Mars rover, landed on the planet’s Jezero crater — the site on an ancient lake — in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life. 

Its turret-mounted scientific instruments are able to determine chemical and mineral composition and look for organic matter, as well as better characterize the planet’s geological processes.

It uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil, which it stores under its belly.

NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.

Flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed at least 41 people in the New York area overnight into Thursday, including several who perished in their basements during the “historic” weather event that officials blamed on climate change.

Record rainfall, which prompted an unprecedented flash flood emergency warning for New York City, turned streets into rivers and shut down subway services as water cascaded down platforms onto tracks.

“I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” said Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.

“It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,” he told AFP.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at LaGuardia and JFK airports, as well as at Newark, where video showed a terminal inundated by rainwater.

“We’re all in this together. The nation is ready to help,” President Joe Biden said ahead of a trip Friday to the southern state of Louisiana, where Ida earlier destroyed buildings and left more than a million homes without power.

Flooding closed major roads across New Jersey and New York boroughs including Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens, submerging cars and forcing the fire department to rescue hundreds of people.

At least 23 people died in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy told reporters.

“The majority of these deaths were individuals who got caught in their vehicles,” he said. 

Twelve died in New York City, including 11 who could not escape their basements, police said. The victims ranged from the ages of 2 to 86.

“Among the people MOST at risk during flash floods here are those living in off-the-books basement dwellings that don’t meet the safety codes necessary to save lives,” lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

“These are working class, immigrant, and low-income people & families,” she added.

Three also died in the New York suburb of Westchester while another three died in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, a local official confirmed.

Ida blazed a trail of destruction north after slamming into Louisiana over the weekend, bringing severe flooding and tornadoes.

“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Wednesday.

State emergencies were declared in New York and New Jersey while the National Weather Service issued its first-ever emergency flash flood warning for New York City, urging residents to move to higher ground.

“You do not know how deep the water is and it is too dangerous,” the New York branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a tweet.

The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain in Central Park in just an hour — beating a record set just last month during Storm Henri.

The US Open was also halted as howling wind and rain blew under the corners of the Louis Armstrong Stadium roof.

– Lingering tornado threat –

New Yorkers woke to clear blue skies Thursday as the city edged back to life but signs of the previous night’s carnage weren’t far away: residents moved fallen tree branches from roads as subway services slowly resumed.

Around 98,000 homes in Pennsylvania, 60,000 in New Jersey and 40,000 in New York were without power, according to the website poweroutage.us.

It is rare for such storms to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.

The warming is causing cyclones to become more powerful and carry more water, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.

“Global warming is upon us and it’s going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it,” said Democratic senator Chuck Schumer.

In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Washington, a tornado ripped up trees and toppled electricity poles.

The NWS warned the threat of tornadoes would linger, with tornado watches in effect for parts of southern Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and southern New York as Ida tracked north through New England Thursday.

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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday said it was grounding space flights by Virgin Galactic while it investigates why the company’s July mission carrying Richard Branson deviated from its planned trajectory.

The move represents a blow to the space tourism firm as it prepares to carry paying customers following its first fully-crewed test flight.

“The FAA is overseeing the Virgin Galactic investigation of its July 11 SpaceShipTwo mishap that occurred over Spaceport America, New Mexico,” the agency said in a short statement.

“Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety,” it added.

The company responded with a statement saying: “We take this seriously and are currently addressing the causes of the issue and determining how to prevent this from occurring on future missions.”

It added it was working closely with the FAA “to support a thorough review and timely resolution of this issue.”

The FAA’s decision came after a report by the New Yorker said the flight experienced cockpit warnings about its rocket-powered ascent that could have jeopardized the mission.

The article, by investigative journalist Nicholas Schmidle, said the pilots encountered first a yellow then a red light, indicating the spaceplane’s climb was too shallow and the nose was insufficiently vertical.

Without corrective action, the vessel would not have had enough energy to glide back to its runway.

“According to multiple sources in the company, the safest way to respond to the warning would have been to abort,” Schmidle wrote — though Virgin has disputed this.

Aborting would have dashed flamboyant billionaire Branson’s hopes of beating rival Jeff Bezos, whose own flight to space was scheduled a few days later.

The pilots did not abort and instead attempted to correct for the trajectory problem, now flying at Mach 3 with a red light on.

The vessel went on to reach 85 kilometers (52 miles) in altitude — above the US definition of space — and landed safely, though publicly available data showed it had flown outside its designated path.

– ‘Billionaire bankroller’ –

“Whether or not (the pilots’) decision was motivated by programmatic pressures and the hopes of their billionaire bankroller sitting in the back remains unclear,” wrote Schmidle.

Virgin Galactic told AFP it disputed the “misleading characterizations and conclusions in the New Yorker article.”

“When the vehicle encountered high altitude winds which changed the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure it remained within mission parameters,” it said in a statement.

“Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions exactly as they have been trained and in strict accordance with our established procedures.” 

The company acknowledged the flight had “dropped below its permitted altitude” for one minute and 43 seconds, but stressed: “At no time did the ship travel above any population centers or cause a hazard to the public.”

Virgin Galactic has had close calls and accidents in the past — most notably in 2014 when a crash killed one pilot and injured another.

Schmidle also wrote that key personnel who were critical of the company’s safety culture had resigned or been sacked.

– Setback –

Virgin Galactic’s stocks fell immediately after the news but then recovered slightly for a loss of three percent at the close of business.

It was an abrupt change in fortune for the company that had been riding high on what had appeared to be a resoundingly successful flight, which Branson had described as the “experience of a lifetime.”

The 15-minute-long jaunt, together with Bezos’ flight on a Blue Origin rocket nine days later, seemed to have ushered in a lucrative new era of space tourism after decades of development.

Last month, Virgin Galactic announced it was restarting ticket sales at $450,000, around double the amounts paid by some 600 people who previously booked seats.

It is unclear whether the next test flight, involving members of the Italian Air Force, will take place as scheduled in late September or early October.

Flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed at least 25 people in the New York area overnight into Thursday, including several who perished in their basements during the “historic” weather event that officials blamed on climate change.

Record rainfall, which prompted an unprecedented flash flood emergency warning for New York City, turned streets into rivers and shut down subway services as water cascaded down platforms onto tracks.

“I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” said Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.

“It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,” he told AFP.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at LaGuardia and JFK airports, as well as at Newark, where video showed a terminal inundated by rainwater.

“We’re all in this together. The nation is ready to help,” President Joe Biden said ahead of a trip Friday to the southern state of Louisiana, where Ida earlier destroyed buildings and left more than a million homes without power.

Flooding closed major roads across multiple New York boroughs including Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens, submerging cars and forcing the fire department to rescue hundreds of people.

Twelve died in New York City, including 11 who could not escape their basements, police said. The victims ranged from the ages of 2 to 86.

“Among the people MOST at risk during flash floods here are those living in off-the-books basement dwellings that don’t meet the safety codes necessary to save lives,” lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

“These are working class, immigrant, and low-income people & families,” she added.

Another ten people lost their lives in New Jersey, including four in an apartment, spokesperson for the mayor said.

Three also died in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, a local official confirmed.

Ida blazed a trail of destruction north after slamming into Louisiana over the weekend, bringing severe flooding and tornadoes.

“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Wednesday.

State emergencies were declared in New York and New Jersey while the National Weather Service issued its first-ever emergency flash flood warning for New York City, urging residents to move to higher ground.

“You do not know how deep the water is and it is too dangerous,” the New York branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a tweet.

The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain in Central Park in just an hour — beating a record set just last month during Storm Henri.

The US Open was also halted as howling wind and rain blew under the corners of the Louis Armstrong Stadium roof.

– Lingering tornado threat –

New Yorkers woke to clear blue skies Thursday as the city edged back to life but signs of the previous night’s carnage weren’t far away: residents moved fallen tree branches from roads as subway services slowly resumed.

Around 98,000 homes in Pennsylvania, 60,000 in New Jersey and 40,000 in New York were without power, according to the website poweroutage.us.

It is rare for such storms to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.

The warming is causing cyclones to become more powerful and carry more water, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.

“Global warming is upon us and it’s going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it,” said Democratic senator Chuck Schumer.

In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Washington, a tornado ripped up trees and toppled electricity poles.

The NWS warned the threat of tornadoes would linger, with tornado watches in effect for parts of southern Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and southern New York as Ida tracked north through New England Thursday.

arb-mdo-nr-pdh/bgs

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday said it was grounding space flights by Virgin Galactic while it investigates why the company’s July mission carrying Richard Branson deviated from its planned trajectory.

The move represents a blow to the space tourism firm as it prepares to carry paying customers following its first fully-crewed test flight.

It is unclear whether the next test flight, involving members of the Italian Air Force, will take place as scheduled in late September or early October.

“The FAA is overseeing the Virgin Galactic investigation of its July 11 SpaceShipTwo mishap that occurred over Spaceport America, New Mexico,” the agency said in a short statement.

“Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety,” it added.

The FAA’s decision came after a report by the New Yorker said the flight experienced cockpit warnings about its rocket-powered ascent that could have jeopardized the mission.

The article, by investigative journalist Nicholas Schmidle, said the pilots encountered first a yellow then a red light, indicating the spaceplane’s climb was too shallow and the nose was insufficiently vertical.

Without corrective action, the vessel would not have had enough energy to glide back to its runway.

“According to multiple sources in the company, the safest way to respond to the warning would have been to abort,” Schmidle wrote — though Virgin has disputed this.

Aborting would have dashed flamboyant billionaire Branson’s hopes of beating rival Jeff Bezos, whose own flight to space was scheduled a few days later.

The pilots did not abort and instead attempted to correct for the trajectory problem, now flying at Mach 3 with a red light on.

The vessel went on to reach 85 kilometers (52 miles) in altitude — above the US definition of space — and landed safely, but data retrieved from FlightRadar24 showed it had flown outside its designated path.

– ‘Billionaire bankroller’ –

“Whether or not (the pilots’) decision was motivated by programmatic pressures and the hopes of their billionaire bankroller sitting in the back remains unclear,” wrote Schmidle.

Virgin Galactic told AFP it disputed the “misleading characterizations and conclusions in the New Yorker article.”

“When the vehicle encountered high altitude winds which changed the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure it remained within mission parameters,” it said in a statement.

“Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions exactly as they have been trained and in strict accordance with our established procedures.” 

The company acknowledged the flight had diverged from the initial plan, but characterized the deviation as a short period of one minute and 43 seconds when it flew below its prescribed altitude, rather than a change in the areas it flew over.

“At no time did the ship travel above any population centers or cause a hazard to the public.”

Virgin Galactic has had close calls and accidents in the past — most notably in 2014 when a crash killed one pilot and injured another.

Schmidle also wrote that key personnel who were critical of the company’s safety culture had resigned or been sacked.

– Setback –

Virgin Galactic’s NASDAQ stocks fell immediately after the news but then recovered slightly for a loss of three percent at the close of business.

It was an abrupt change in fortune for the company that had been riding high on what had appeared to be a resoundingly successful flight, which Branson had described as the “experience of a lifetime.”

The 15-minute-long jaunt, together with Bezos’ flight on a Blue Origin rocket nine days later, seemed to have ushered in a lucrative new era of space tourism after decades of development.

Last month, Virgin Galactic announced it was restarting ticket sales at $450,000, around double the $200,000 to $250,000 paid by around 600 people who previously booked seats on Virgin’s spaceship between 2005 and 2014, as it looked to cash in.

The company did not immediately respond to a request by AFP for comment on the FAA’s decision to suspend its flights.

New Yorkers mopped up flooded homes and businesses and began removing fallen debris from crushed cars Thursday as they counted the cost of record rainfall that caught much of the Big Apple by surprise.

Under piercing blue skies that belied the carnage of just a few hours earlier, shocked residents surveyed the damage of a chaotic night that left at least nine people dead in the city and killed several more in outlying areas.

“I honestly feel heartbroken,” said Marcio Rodrigues, at his destroyed car repair shop in the New York suburb of Mamaroneck, where several clients’ cars were ruined.

“This was my dream. And I feel like I lost it all right now,” he told AFP, crying.

A short distance away, electrical contractor Jim Lanza’s ground-floor office was full of mud after water rose 7-feet high.

“It’s pretty devastating,” he said, adding that the water took about seven hours to recede.

Nearby, Jeannsie Silva Barrios recalled a sleepless night as the owner of her house pumped water from her basement.

“I was really scared. My husband had to wake up at like four o’clock in the morning just to see the water, how it was going,” she said.

A few miles south, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Jonas Sigle eyed the wreckage of his car outside his home.

“A ten-ton tree just fell on my car. My car’s crushed. It’s totaled,” he told AFP.

“Wow, this was just unbelievable,” said his neighbor, Michael Price.

Record rainfall of 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) fell in Central Park in just an hour, breaking a record set last month during Tropical Storm Henri.

Nearby, Metodija Mihajlov inspected the basement of his restaurant, which was flooded with three inches of water late Wednesday.

“When the rain started to get bad, my guys called me and we decided to close the restaurant and turn off the electricity and everybody left,” he said.

“I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” added the 50-year-old. “It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain.

“Luckily nothing was damaged. As soon as the rain stopped the water drained away,” Mihajlov told AFP.

The flooding reignited memories of Hurricane Sandy, a more powerful storm that knocked out power for much of Manhattan and flooded subways in 2012.

Many residents posted videos on social media that showed water cascading down stairs and into apartments. 

In Brooklyn, Rebecca Stronger was mopping up water from the basement and first floors of her veterinary clinic. 

“We all show up, we all clean and we all get our job done,” she told AFP.

– ‘Hearts ache’ –

Stronger said she expects more storms in the future as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.

“Of course. Everybody knows (about) climate change. The world is exploding on so many different levels. I expect it to happen a lot,” she added.

The New York Police Department said nine people had died, eight of them trapped in basements and one in a car. 

They were aged between two and 86 and were found mostly in flooded locations in Queens. 

“Our hearts ache for the lives lost in last night’s storm,” tweeted Mayor de Blasio, who declared a state of emergency late Wednesday.

“Please keep them and their loved ones in your thoughts today.  They were our fellow New Yorkers and to their families, your city will be there for you in the days ahead,” he added.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday said it was grounding space flights by Virgin Galactic while it investigates why the company’s July 11 voyage carrying Richard Branson deviated from its planned trajectory.

The move represents a blow to the private space company as it prepares to carry paying customers following its first fully-crewed test flight.

It is now unclear whether Virgin’s next test flight, involving members of the Italian Air Force, will take place as scheduled in late September or early October.

“The FAA is overseeing the Virgin Galactic investigation of its July 11 SpaceShipTwo mishap that occurred over Spaceport America, New Mexico,” the agency said in a short statement.

“Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety,” it added.

The news came after a report by the New Yorker said the flight experienced cockpit warnings about its rocket-powered ascent that could have jeopardized the mission.

The article, by investigative journalist Nicholas Schmidle, said the pilots encountered first a yellow then a red light, indicating the spaceplane’s climb was too shallow and the nose was insufficiently vertical.

Without corrective action, the vessel would not have had enough energy to glide back to its runway.

“According to multiple sources in the company, the safest way to respond to the warning would have been to abort,” Schmidle wrote — though Virgin has disputed this.

Aborting would have dashed flamboyant billionaire Branson’s hopes of beating rival Jeff Bezos, whose own flight to space was scheduled a few days later.

The pilots did not abort and instead attempted to correct for the trajectory problem, now flying at Mach 3 with a red light on.

The vessel went on to reach 85 kilometers (52 miles) in altitude — above the US definition of space — and landed safely, but data retrieved from FlightRadar24 showed it had flown outside its designated path.

– ‘Misleading’ –

“Whether or not (the pilots’) decision was motivated by programmatic pressures and the hopes of their billionaire bankroller sitting in the back remains unclear,” wrote Schmidle.

Virgin Galactic told AFP it disputed the “misleading characterizations and conclusions in the New Yorker article.”

“When the vehicle encountered high altitude winds which changed the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure it remained within mission parameters,” it said in a statement.

“Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions exactly as they have been trained and in strict accordance with our established procedures.” 

The company acknowledged the flight had diverged from the initial plan, but characterized the deviation as a short period of one minute and 43 seconds when it flew below its prescribed altitude, rather than a change in the areas it flew over.

“At no time did the ship travel above any population centers or cause a hazard to the public.”

Virgin Galactic has had close calls and accidents in the past — most notably in 2014 when a crash killed one pilot and injured another.

Schmidle also wrote that key personnel who were critical of the company’s safety culture had resigned or been sacked.

Rapid warming of the Arctic is likely a key driver of extreme winter weather in the United States, according to a new study that addresses a longstanding apparent contradiction in climate science and could explain events like February’s cold snap in Texas.

The paper, published in the journal Science, used observational data and modeling to establish a link between planetary warming linked to human activity and a phenomenon called the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) disruption.

The stratospheric polar vortex is a band of westerly winds encircling the Arctic that under normal conditions keep its cold air contained.

The team found that rapid Arctic warming and its effects, namely sea ice loss, coupled with increased snow cover in Siberia as a result of more moisture in the atmosphere, is leading to a strengthening temperature difference from west to east across Eurasia.

This leads to a weakening of the SPV, which in turn can trigger cold spells like the one that hit Canada, the US and Mexico last winter. In Texas, dozens were killed where it caused more than $200 billion in damage.

“It seems very counterintuitive, it seems very unexpected that you have this very very strong warming in the Arctic, and that somehow it’s causing cooling, in other regions,” study co-author Matthew Barlow of the University of Massachusetts Lowell told AFP.

“I was a little surprised that the results came out as cleanly as they did, that we were able to establish as direct a link as we did.”

The Arctic is warming at a rate twice the global average, and severe winter weather is increasing in mid-latitude regions, but the question of whether the two are linked has remained a matter of scientific debate.

“In the past, these cold extremes over the US and Russia have been used to justify not reducing emissions — and there’s no longer any excuse, we need to start reducing emissions, right away,” study co-author Chaim Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem added in an accompanying video.

According to the authors, one of the strengths of the study was that in addition to reviewing historical data, it used a high-powered climate model to test whether their hypothesis was true when inputting new parameters, such as even more heat and snow cover in Siberia.

The results could be used to extend the warning lead time of cold extremes in Asia, Canada, and the United States, the authors say, “maybe even a few weeks in advance,” said Barlow.

“People are starting to appreciate the reality that even if the climate change isn’t in your own backyard, it can still really affect you,” he added. 

“Climate change in the Arctic is not just something unfortunate for polar bears, not just a kind of a curiosity.”

Flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed at least 17 people in the New York area overnight into Thursday, including several who perished in their basements during the “historic” weather event.

Record rainfall, which prompted an unprecedented flash flood emergency warning for New York City, turned streets into rivers and shut down subway services as water cascaded down platforms onto tracks.

“I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” said Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.

“It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,” he told AFP.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at LaGuardia and JFK airports, as well as at Newark, where video showed a terminal inundated by rainwater.

“We’re all in this together. The nation is ready to help,” President Joe Biden said ahead of a trip Friday to the southern state of Louisiana, where Ida earlier destroyed buildings and left more than a million homes without power.

Flooding closed major roads across multiple New York boroughs including Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens, submerging cars and forcing the fire department to rescue hundreds of people.

Nine died in New York City, including eight who could not escape their basements, police said. The victims ranged from the ages of 2 to 86.

“Among the people MOST at risk during flash floods here are those living in off-the-books basement dwellings that don’t meet the safety codes necessary to save lives,” lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

“These are working class, immigrant, and low-income people & families,” she added.

Another four people lost their lives in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a spokesperson for the mayor there told AFP, while another death was confirmed in Passaic.

Three died in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, a local official confirmed.

Ida blazed a trail of destruction north after slamming into Louisiana over the weekend, bringing severe flooding and tornadoes.

“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Wednesday.

State emergencies were declared in New York and New Jersey while the National Weather Service issued its first-ever emergency flash flood warning for New York City, urging residents to move to higher ground.

“You do not know how deep the water is and it is too dangerous,” the New York branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a tweet.

The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain in Central Park in just an hour — beating a record set just last month during Storm Henri.

The US Open was also halted as howling wind and rain blew under the corners of the Louis Armstrong Stadium roof.

– Lingering tornado threat –

New Yorkers woke to clear blue skies Thursday as the city edged back to life but signs of the previous night’s carnage weren’t far away: residents moved fallen tree branches from roads as subway services slowly resumed.

Around 98,000 homes in Pennsylvania, 60,000 in New Jersey and 40,000 in New York were without power, according to the website poweroutage.us.

It is rare for such storms to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.

The warming is causing cyclones to become more powerful and carry more water, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.

“Global warming is upon us and it’s going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it,” said Democratic senator Chuck Schumer.

In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Washington, a tornado ripped up trees and toppled electricity poles.

The NWS warned the threat of tornadoes would linger, with tornado watches in effect for parts of southern Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and southern New York as Ida tracked north through New England Thursday.

arb-mdo-nr-pdh/bgs

The remnants of Hurricane Ida triggered spectacular flash flooding and a rare state of emergency in New York City overnight into Thursday, killing at least 14 people in what was called a historic weather event.

Streets turned into rivers while water cascaded down subway platforms, flooding tracks, as transportation authorities effectively shut down services.

“I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,” said Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.

“It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,” he told AFP.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at LaGuardia and JFK airports, as well as at Newark, where video showed a terminal inundated by rainwater.

Flooding closed major roads across multiple boroughs including Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens, with emergency services rescuing hundreds of people.

Ida slammed into the southern state of Louisiana over the weekend, bringing severe flooding and tornadoes as it blazed a trail of destruction north.

New York state governor Kathy Hochul declared an emergency as rain caused massive flooding in the country’s financial and cultural capital, leaving the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens badly hit.

Nine people died in New York City, including eight who could not escape their basements in Queens and Brooklyn, police said. The victims ranged from the ages of 2 to 86.

Another four people lost their lives in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where a state of emergency was also declared, a spokesperson for the mayor there told AFP, while another death was confirmed in Passaic.

Local media reported that at least 22 had died in the New York area.

New Yorkers woke to clear blue skies Thursday as the city edged back to life but signs of the previous night’s carnage weren’t far away. Residents moved fallen tree branches from roads as subway services slowly resumed.

Around 98,000 homes in Pennsylvania, 60,000 in New Jersey and 40,000 in New York were without power, according to the website poweroutage.us.

“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The city earlier issued an unprecedented flash flood warning urging residents to move to higher ground.

As footage showed cars submerged on streets across the city, authorities urged residents not to drive on flooded roads.

“You do not know how deep the water is and it is too dangerous,” the New York branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a tweet.

The US Open was halted as howling wind and rain blew under the corners of the Louis Armstrong Stadium roof.

The NWS recorded 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) of rain in Central Park in just an hour — beating a record set just last month during Storm Henri.

It is rare for such storms to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.

The warming is causing cyclones to become more powerful and carry more water, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.

“Global warming is upon us and it’s going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it,” said Democratic senator Chuck Schumer.

In Annapolis, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the US capital, a tornado ripped up trees and toppled electricity poles.

– Lingering tornado threat –

The NWS warned the threat of tornadoes would linger, with tornado watches in effect for parts of southern Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and southern New York.

“This is extremely dangerous and potentially deadly flash flooding ongoing in Somerset County, as well as others in the area,” the NWS account for the Philadelphia metropolitan area tweeted late Wednesday, along with a video of a car trapped in churning water.

Ida is expected to continue steaming north and bring heavy rainfall on Thursday to New England.

US President Joe Biden is due to travel Friday to Louisiana, where Ida destroyed buildings and left more than a million homes without power.