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IDA: Death Toll Climbs To 23 In New Jersey

The death toll caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida that tore through New Jersey Wednesday had climbed to 23 as of Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy said at a press conference.

New Jersey State Police rescue residents trapped in houses.

New Jersey State Police rescue residents trapped in houses.

Photo Credit: New Jersey State Police
Nidhi Rama and Ayush Rama.

Nidhi Rama and Ayush Rama.

Photo Credit: Original Source Unclear

Most of these deaths were individuals who got stuck in vehicles due to flooding and were overtaken by water, he said from fire station in Hillsborough.

The governor reminded residents New Jersey is still in the midst of Ida, and urged people not to travel.

Those who died include:

  • Four Elizabeth residents -- a couple ages 71 and 72, their 38-year-old son and a 33-year-old neighbor. Their bodies were found by authorities in the Oakwood Plaza Apartment complex on Irvington Avenue.
  • Two people drowned in submerged vehicles in Hillsborough Township, sometime overnight Wednesday, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said.
  • Edison resident Dhanush Reddy, 31, who had been swept into a 36-inch storm drain with another man Wednesday night in South Plainfield. While that man was rescued, Reddy's body was not recovered until Thursday morning, where crews found it in a wooded area in Piscataway.
  • A driver was found dead in a pickup truck in a creek in Milford.
  • The body of an 83-year-old Union Township resident was found floating near 5 Points. Authorities believe he drowned when his car got stuck and he walked into several feet of water.
  • A man apparently trying to remove debris from drains in Maplewood was carried away by rising tides. He was later pronounced dead.
  • A 70-year-old man drowned in a fully-submerged car in Passaic. Two of his family members were rescued by responders while others may have been carried away in the tides.

Some other residents were still missing as of Thursday, including a Little Falls woman presumed dead, and a Passaic couple in a vehicle swept away by tides (see below).

Meanwhile, several communities in South Jersey were working to rebuild after two tornados tore through the area.

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