Two Indian-origin persons killed in US flood

At least two Indian-origin persons have been killed in the US state of New Jersey after they were swept away by flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida, according to a media report.

New York:At least two Indian-origin persons have been killed in the US state of New Jersey after they were swept away by flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida, according to a media report on Sunday.

Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on August 29 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, is the second-most destructive hurricane to hit the state on record, only after Hurricane Katrina (2005).

Ida transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone on September 1, killing 65 people across the US, with the majority deaths in New Jersey, New York and Louisiana.

Indian-origin Malathi Kanche, 46, a software designer, was driving home with her 15-year-old daughter on Wednesday when her vehicle halted in waist-deep floodwater on Route 22 of Bridgewater, New Jersey, the New York Times newspaper reported.

Kanche and her daughter held onto a tree as floodwaters pulled them, according to a family friend, Mansi Mago, but the tree fell, pulling Kanche in the torrent. Initially, officials put Kanche on the list of "missing persons". She was confirmed dead on Friday, the report added.

Read: Hurricane Ida evacuees urged to return to New Orleans

Danush Reddy, 31, was stranded in the flood in South Plainfield, New Jersey when he lost balance and tumbled near a 36-inch-wide sewer pipe. Officials said Reddy was pulled into the drain pipe and his body was found miles away.

Apart from deaths and damage to the ecology, Hurricane Ida has battered the civic infrastructure in the northeastern states of the US. The storm has caused at least USD 50 billion in damages, according to official estimates.

Read: Floods due to hurricane Ida in pictures

PTI