Two bodies have been pulled from the Passaic River, eight days after Ida flooded New Jersey and left four people missing. Pat Battle reports.
What to Know
Search crews had been scouring the Passaic River for days in hopes of finding any of three people, including two Seton Hall students, who were swept away by Ida's floodwaters last week and remain missing
Two bodies were recovered in the river over a 24-hour period this week; Passaic's mayor says the medical examiner has confirmed their identities as the two missing students
More than 40 people in NJ and NY died of Ida-related flooding, officials have said; more than half were in the Garden State
The two bodies recovered this week in New Jersey have been identified by the medical examiner's office as the two missing college students who vanished together last week amid Ida's floods.
Nidi Rana and Ayush Rana, both Seton Hall students who lived in Passaic, hadn't been seen since floodwaters overtook their car near the swollen river during the height of the storm.
Passaic Mayor Hector Lora confirmed to NBC New York the office's identification Friday, one day after the second body was found near Route 21 and Clay Street.
It was barely 12 hours earlier that detectives and a medical examiner were at the Frank Vincent Marina in Kearny, where Hudson County authorities acknowledged that a body found that day could be one of three people swept away last week.
The search for missing New Jerseyans is continuing after Hurricane Ida's remnants flooded our region. Pat Battle reports.
Search teams using sophisticated underwater sonar have been scouring the Passaic River day in and day out, looking for any of the missing people.
Area searchers are still looking for 56-year-old Donna Lomagro, who was nearly rescued by good Samaritans the night her car was flooded.
The current was too strong.
And with more than a week gone by since Ida's terrifying flash floods, rescuers know the chances of finding the missing alive are slim.
On Friday, President Joe Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency added Essex, Hudson and Union counties to the state's major disaster declaration, making each eligible for federal recover aid. FEMA had previously approved the declaration for Bergen, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset counties.
Both New Jersey and New York, especially the city, were slammed by Ida's monstrous flash floods and record-breaking rainfall days after the storm made landfall as a hurricane in Louisiana. More than 40 people in the two states died of storm-related causes, the vast majority (at least 27) of them in New Jersey.
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A man falls off his bike into a flooded street the morning after the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the New York City and New Jersey area on Sept. 2, 2021 in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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A fallen tree is blocked off in Central Park following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept. 2, 2021 in New York City.
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Cars sit abandoned on the flooded Major Deegan Expressway following a night of extremely heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept. 2, 2021, in the Bronx borough of New York City.
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Court staff clean the rain off the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, on September 1, 2021.
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Comcast utility workers survey the damage from a tornado on West Street in Annapolis, Maryland on Sept. 1, 2021. The remnants of Hurricane Ida spawned a tornado that touched down in Annapolis, Maryland on Wednesday afternoon.
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A sinkhole that formed in the Berkshire Square Shopping Center parking lot in Wyomissing, Pa., Wednesday afternoon. The remnants of Hurricane Ida move across the East Coast.
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Vehicles under water in Philadelphia, Sept. 2, 2021 in the aftermath of downpours and high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that hit the area.
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A girl talks to a driver after she walked across a flooded Main street in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Remnants of Hurricane Ida are moving up the East Coast causing flooding and evacuations in low lying communities.
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NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 02: Cars sit abandoned on a flooded highway following a night of extremely heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 02, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Multiple fatalities have been reported in the region after the storm passed through, causing massive flooding and a widespread disruption of subway service. A tornado touched down in Pennsylvania resulting in extensive property damage. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Train tracks are flooded in the Bronx following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept.2, 2021 in New York City. Multiple fatalities have been reported in the region after the storm passed through, causing massive flooding and a widespread disruption of subway service.
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A person stands in a flooded street the morning after the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the New York City and New Jersey area on Sept. 2, 2021 in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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A person walks on a flooded street as the Schuylkill River exceeds its bank in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, Sept. 2, 2021, in the aftermath of downpours and high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that hit the area.
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A motorist drives a car through a flooded expressway in Brooklyn, New York early on Sept. 2, 2021, as flash flooding and record-breaking rainfall brought by the remnants of Storm Ida swept through the area.
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A worker unblocks a drain on a street affected by floodwater in Brooklyn, New York, Sept. 2, 2021, as flash flooding and record-breaking rainfall brought by the remnants of Storm Ida swept through the area.
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Floodwater surrounds vehicles following heavy rain on an expressway in Brooklyn, New York, early on September 2, 2021, as flash flooding and record-breaking rainfall brought by the remnants of Storm Ida swept through the area.
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Vehicles are surrounded by water behind an apartment building on Main Street in Kingston, MA on Sept. 2, 2021. Flooding concerns due to the heavy rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida shifted away from morning commute problems to communities along rivers in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where water levels were continuing to rise on Thursday. The overnight rainfall reached nearly 6 inches in some Massachusetts communities.
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Highway 440 flooded in Jersey City of New Jersey, United States on September 2, 2021 as hundreds of cars stuck in water as Hurricane Ida left behind flash floods east coast. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A delivery worker is seen riding through flood waters and heavy rainfall from teh remnants of Hurricane Ida during a flood on Intervale Avenue on September 1, 2021 in the Bronx. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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As what was once Hurricane Ida drenched the Tri-State area, a person makes their way down a flooded street in the Bronx. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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Cars sit sunken in high water on Highway 440 after a flash flood in Bayonne City of New Jersey, United States on September 1, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A man is seen crossing a flooded street with with water up to his shin in Hoboken, New Jersea on September 1, 2021. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
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A car seen attempting to drive slowly down a flooded street in New Jersey but became stuck. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A car seen attempting to drive slowly down a flooded street in New Jersey but became stuck. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Cars are seen stuck in very high waters after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped massive amounts of rain on New Jersey. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Highway 440 flooded in Jersey City of New Jersey, United States on September 2, 2021 as hundreds of cars stuck in water as Hurricane Ida left behind flash floods east coast. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Highway 440 flooded in Jersey City of New Jersey, United States on September 2, 2021 as hundreds of cars stuck in water as Hurricane Ida left behind flash floods east coast. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
