4 Indian-origin persons killed in US floods

New York: Fours persons of Indian-origin have been killed in the US states of New Jersey and New York after they were swept away by flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida.

Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on August 29 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, is the second-most destructive hurricane to hit the state on record, only after Hurricane Katrina (2005).

A report in patch.com said 31-year-old Dhanush Reddy from Edison died last week after being swept into a 36-inch storm sewer pipe in South Plainfield,

New Jersey.

The report added that South Plainfield Police, Middlesex County Water Rescue Team and Piscataway Police arrived at the scene where officials were assisting motorists in the area of Hadley and Stelton Road and heard cries for help.

Authorities said two men were swept into the pipe, which goes from South Plainfield to Piscataway.

While one of the men was rescued, the other could not be located and authorities found Reddy's body in a wooded area a few miles away the day after he drowned.

"Many of the flood's victims lived in basement apartments, some of which were subterranean dwellings carved out illegally from larger homes and may have lacked the emergency egress required of legitimate apartments," a report in The New York Times said.