Ida ranks among deadliest weather disasters in NJ history

TRENTON – The rising death toll from the remnants of Hurricane Ida makes the storm among the deadliest weather disasters ever to occur in New Jersey.

As of late afternoon Thursday, there had been confirmations of 23 storm-related fatalities in New Jersey, including in Bridgewater, Elizabeth, Hillsborough, Hunterdon County, Hopewell Township in Mercer County, South Plainfield and Passaic. The majority of the deaths were of victims who got trapped in vehicles.

A man in waist-deep water walks by a door floating in floodwater in Manville, NJ, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. A stunned U.S. East Coast has woken up to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain. (AP Photo/Carlos Gonzalez)

“An extraordinary, sadly tragic, historic 24 hours in New Jersey. There’s no other way to put it,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a visit to Mullica Hill in Gloucester County, where homes were leveled by a tornado.

Nobody was killed in the tornadoes in the state’s southern half, but people died in their homes and cars from overwhelming flooding in northern and central New Jersey.

General view inside an apartment after flooding as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ida at Oakwood Plaza Apartments complex in Elizabeth, NJ., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Superstorm Sandy deaths

The worst disaster remains Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The toll as measured by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 34 in the state, part of 117 overall in the United States. A separate tally by NJ.com pegs the number of deaths related to Sandy to 40 in the state, including from accidents during post-storm cleanup.

Until this storm, the second-deadliest had been more than two centuries ago. A large wave created by the Great Coastal Hurricane of 1806 wrecked a ship, the Rose-in-Bloom, 20 miles off the shore of Barnegat Inlet, killing 21 of its passengers.

Residents wait for information of their apartments after flooding as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ida at Oakwood Plaza Apartments complex in Elizabeth, NJ., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Tropical Storm Irene deaths

Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 was responsible for seven deaths in New Jersey, according to the National Hurricane Center. But death tolls often vary, depending on the criteria used by whoever is assembling it, and other reports have put the account at 10, plus two New Jerseyans who died in other states.

Tropical Storm Floyd deaths

Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999 killed seven people in New Jersey, mostly from drowning. Additionally, a police lieutenant in Cranford died by suicide after coordinating flood rescues for 38 hours over roughly two days.

Michael Symons is State House bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. Contact him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com.

Remembering Tropical Storm Irene's impact on NJ, 13 years later

Some New Jersey residents and communities never fully recovered after Tropical Storm Irene's incredible, historic rainfall and flooding in late August 2011.

Gallery Credit: Dan Zarrow