Why was Ida so devastating as it flooded the Northeast?
NEW YORK (AP) — “How can something like this happen?”
The plaintive question posed by a Queens resident whose neighbors drowned was on the lips of many after the remnants of Ida furiously swept through the Northeast.
Dozens of people from Virginia to Connecticut were killed Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Elected officials expressed shock at the severity of the deluge, but the National Weather Service as early as Monday had cautioned that Ida could bring flooding to the New York City area.
By Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center had increased the urgency of the warning, heralding the potential for “significant and life-threatening flash flooding” and river flooding throughout the region.
So, why didn't anyone see it coming?
Well, some did. Over the weekend, National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini and other meteorologists started seeing an eerie similarity to 1969’s Hurricane Camille, which killed more than 100 people in Virginia with 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain long after making landfall in Mississippi.
“We collectively were aware of this possibility. These discussions were started even before the storm made landfall in Louisiana,” Uccellini told The Associated Press.
Despite this, the news conferences and loud warnings from public officials that accompanied storms like Sandy or even last month’s Henri were mostly absent until the brunt of the storm was upon the region.
Pennsylvania suffered first, with flash flood warnings issued in an area that included two poorly rated dams Wednesday afternoon.
“I know that today, many people in Pennsylvania are hurting. We experienced a historic storm here all across the commonwealth,” Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Thursday. “A lot of Pennsylvanians will be dealing with very hard emotions...
