NYC to hire forecaster, beef up warnings after Ida flooding

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City is planning to hire a private weather forecaster, design more systems to catch and drain water and issue earlier and more aggressive warnings to residents under a new plan to respond to heavy rainfall like the deadly deluge Hurricane Ida dropped on the city earlier this month.

Officials reported 13 people died in New York City earlier this month when the remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated the Northeast with torrential rain.

It trapped hundreds of cars on submerged waterways, deluged subway stations and stalled trains and flooded basement apartments, turning them into deadly traps.