At least 45 dead as Storm Ida dumps ‘historic’ rain in north east

At least 45 people are now feared dead after Storm Ida dumped "historic" levels of rain in parts of New York, New Jersey, and across the northeast US.

Widespread flooding was caused by the record levels of rainfall as the governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency as streets and subway stations became overwhelmed with water.

All services across the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) were suspended and all non-emergency vehicles were banned from New York City’s streets, city authorities said.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio described Wednesday night’s flooding as a “historic weather event”.