Angry NYC residents fume at AOC and De Blasio during 'mercy tour' of Queens neighborhood where nine people died during Hurricane Ida: 'I don't blame climate change, I blame the mayor. There was no warning'
Angry New York City residents fumed at Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Ortez and Mayor Bill de Blasio about the lack of warning as they toured a Queens neighborhood to survey damage left in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which killed 13 people in the city.
On Monday, De Blasio, AOC and Senator Chuck Schumer visited Woodside five days after the flood hit the city without warning, with rain falling more than three inches every hour and causing New York City's first ever flash flood emergency.
The visit came on the same day President Joe Biden approved major disaster declarations for New York and New Jersey, which greenlights the use of FEMA funds after $85 million was lost in public infrastructure and property in the two states.
More than 40 people were killed as the Hurricane hit both states last week.
But as AOC and De Blasio toured Woodside, where nine people were killed, angry residents railed against them.
'I don't blame climate change, I blame the mayor,' Woodside resident Danette Rivera told the New York Post.
'There was absolutely no warning. I wasn't expecting water from my own drain to be the one that's going to kill me.'
Senators Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor de Blasio went on a tour surveying Ida's devastation in Woodside Queens
Mayor de Blasio was heckled and received with outrage from Woodside residents who feel the city's response to emergency was flawed
'Many of these deaths occurred in basement dwellings, many of which are illegal and growing in number due to the unaffordable housing crisis, but do not meet safety standards required to keep people safe in incidents like flash floods' said AOC about the 11 New Yorkers who died trapped in basements during Ida
AOC and Schumer, members of FEMA announced that families affected by Ida could receive up to $34,000 in federal grants that won't need to be repaired
Angry residents heckled and blamed de Blasio for the city's unpreparedness in the face of hte storm last week, and were infuriated by AOC's attempt to pin the blame on climate change.
'This storm has now rewritten the map,' De Blasio said on Monday.
'We used to think that flooding was a coastal thing. It's not anymore. It can happen all over the city.'
'We needed more advance notice from the National Weather Service,' she said when asked if de Blasio had done enough to warn New Yorkers about the storm
A this home in the corner of Laurel Hill boulevard, a family of three people drowned in a basement apartment. Two middle aged adults and a 2-year-old were found inside
'They swore that it wouldn't happen again, and that they would fix the sewers.
'Nine people died in this neighborhood. What does it take for them to do something? You know how politics are. It's never about the people,' Woodside resident Isabella Lizal told the New York Daily.
AOC refused to criticize de Blasio when asked if he adequately warned New Yorkers about the storms.
'We needed more advance notice from the National Weather Service,' she said.
The NWS had tweeted a warning at 3.23pm on Wednesday.
A flood emergency was issued almost six hours later, at 9:30pm, with only one hour notice for the emergency.
Ocasio-Ortez tweeted about the deaths in New York that occurred when people were trapped in fast-filling basement apartments as they tried to escape.
'How the climate crisis is an inequality crisis: Many of these deaths occurred in basement dwellings, many of which are illegal and growing in number due to the unaffordable housing crisis, but do not meet safety standards required to keep people safe in incidents like flash floods' she said on September 2, a day after the storm.
'These are working class, immigrant, and low-income people & families,' she added.
More federal aid is expected for people in six New Jersey counties and five New York counties affected by devastating flooding last week from the remnants of the hurricane after President Biden approved major disaster declarations.
Families affected by the hurricane could receive up to $34,000 in FEMA federal grants that won't need to be repaid.
Ida left devastation in New York, where 13 died, and New Jersey, where 27 victims were killed by the storm.
NYPD released a dramatic bodycam footage of an officer swimming in a flooded basement, trying to open the door to save people trapped inside their home at 64th street.
A family of three was found dead inside - Ang Gelu Lama, 50, Mingma Sherpa, 48, and their 2-year old son.
AOC blamed climate change for the devastation that Ida left behind and refused to criticize de Blasio
Spectators walk through flooded paths near Louis Armstrong Stadium. The NWS issued an alert on 3.23pm Wednesday, but the city sent issued a flood emergency just an hour before the storm started
Vehicles are stranded by high water Thursday, September 2 on the Major Deegan Expressway in Bronx borough of New York as high water left behind by Hurricane Ida still stands on the highway hours later
A motorist drives a car through a flooded expressway in Brooklyn, New York early on September 2 as flash flooding and record-breaking rainfall brought by the remnants of Storm Ida swept through the area
General views of the aftermath and cleanup of flooding around Queens after the passing of storm Ida
View of a car damaged by a downed tree after the remnants of Hurricane Ida produced heavy rain and caused widespread flooding in New York
Gov Hochul said an initial assessment found that the storm damaged more than 1,200 homes and caused about $50million in damage to public infrastructure and property.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said damage to city infrastructure was estimated at $35 million.
At least 50 people were killed in six Eastern states as record rainfall last Wednesday overwhelmed rivers and sewer systems.
Biden is scheduled to visit New Jersey and New York City on Tuesday to survey storm damage, the White House said. The storm killed at least 27 people in New Jersey and 13 in New York City.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, touring flood-damaged areas of Lambertville on Labor Day, said Biden's major disaster declaration will allow individuals to receive assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.
An existing emergency declaration issued last week enabled state, county and local governments to get reimbursed for disaster spending, Murphy said.
Residents wait a worker picking up debris, Monday, September 6 2021 in Passaic, NewJersey,from their flood damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida
Flood-stricken families and business owners across the Northeast are hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from Ida moves into high gear
Simon Wolyniec stands in the basement of his Manville, New Jersey home Sunday, September 5 in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Wolyniec said that the basement wall collapsed in the early hours of September 2, and shortly thereafter, with the aid of a kayak for his children, he and his family waded into the deep water already inundating the first floor, to safety
Utility workers work among debris from flood damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in Manville, New Jersey, September 5
In New Jersey, the disaster declaration covers Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic, and Somerset counties.
In New York, it allows for individual assistance for people in Bronx, Queens, Kings, Richmond and Westchester counties.
Murphy said he would be talking to Biden during his visit to about adding other counties to the major disaster declaration.
Murphy joined state and local officials on a walking tour of Lambertville, passing homes with belongings piled outside as residents spent their Labor Day clearing flood debris, aided at one point by a bulldozer.
The major disaster declaration could help people like Nick Cepparulo, who told Murphy all of his family's first-floor possessions were washed away soon after they got in their car and raced for higher ground.
'We´ll be all right,' Cepparulo told reporters after speaking with Murphy. 'We need a little help getting there.'
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent part of the morning touring of storm damage in Queens with Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
One resident greeted de Blasio with an arm on his shoulder and a quip about their flooded homes.
'Welcome to Woodside,' she said. 'We have swimming pools in each house. So you can get your bathing suit on and take a dip with us.'