After swept through the East Coast and left at least 46 people dead, New York's mayor urged everyone to see the storm as "the biggest wake-up call we could possibly get."

"We are in a new world now, let's be blunt," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday, adding that the intensity and frequency of storms are rising and the US is going to have to do a lot of things "differently" and "quickly."

Late Thursday, President Joe Biden had approved an emergency declaration for New York and New Jersey after at least 39 people died in those two states alone.

Ida first devastated.

It rolled through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as remnants of a tropical depression, dropping rain that unleashed deadly flooding from Virginia to New England.

The flooding was especially concentrated in a stretch including metro Philadelphia, New Jersey and southern New York.

Of the dozens killed in the East, many died in flooded homes -- including many in -- or while overtaken by water in or outside their vehicles.

Friday morning, about 4.5 million people in the Northeast remained under flood warnings, mostly in northeastern New Jersey, as rainwater flows into larger creeks, streams, and rivers. Some rivers in the Northeast are forecast to remain above flood stage into the weekend, though many are already receding.

"We have to start from scratch as we are mourning," Amrita Bhagwandin of Queens, New York, told on Thursday. "We have to see how we can move on in the most graceful way here. Because this -- if you see the situation here, it's very unsafe, very unlivable. Death is upon us."

Bhagwandin's home sustained serious damage in the flood, but her biggest heartbreak was losing her neighbors, a mother and a son, she said.

Bhagwandin's husband, Sahadeo, said that their neighborhood has had flooding issues before. And officials may come through during times of disaster, but the residents there need more action.

"We need a lot of help in this neighborhood and over the years we have been neglected. I came here in 2003, and since 2003 to 2021, we're getting flooding and nothing has been done," Sahadeo Bhagwandin said. "We have several projects that were completed in this block but it is not resolving the issue we have."

In addition to the 39 deaths in New York and New Jersey, four deaths were attributed to the storm

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wants answers.

"I want to know who knew what when and what could have been done differently -- because New Yorkers deserve to know what we're doing to learn from this event and make sure that it doesn't happen again," Hochul told

But part of making sure it doesn't happen again is fighting back against climate change, Hochul said. She advocated for a continued transition in the state to carbon neutral energy.

"We have no choice my friends, the future we spoke about in dire terms, that future is now. It's happening, we're losing life, lives we're losing property and we cannot continue on this path."

25 HOMES DESTROYED OR DAMAGED BY TORNADO IN NEW JERSEY  

At least eight tornadoes were confirmed in the Northeast on Wednesday: four in Pennsylvania, three in New Jersey and one in southeast Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service.

In the southern New Jersey community of Mullica Hill, a tornado destroyed or severely damaged 25 homes, police Lt. David Marrow said. The weather service rated that tornado an with 150 mph winds.

Hundreds of trees were downed, and power was knocked out for a third of the township, Marrow said.

"This is going to take some time to dig out of, there's no question about it," Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday, standing in front of one of the wrecked homes.

As terrifying as the tornadoes were, none of the state's 23 storm deaths were related to them, Murphy said, adding that he believes residents took the flood warnings less seriously than the tornado warnings.

"The tornado warnings came out just as the flood warnings came out," Murphy said. "Everybody, when they got the tornado warning, went into their basement and I think there were too many people who thought that they could deal with flooding and sadly, some of them either in their homes or in their cars, lost their lives."

PEOPLE STANDING TO ENSURE THEY DIDNT DROWN ON BUS

The danger of floodwaters was readily apparent in New York City, where the police department made 69 water rescues and 166 non-water rescues, the Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said.

More than 800 subway riders were evacuated, New York Police Department Chief Rodney Harrison said Thursday. And another 500 New Yorkers were rescued from flooded roadways, buildings and subway stations, the New York City Emergency Management Department said.

In the chaos, New York bus driver Rosa Amonte became an overnight viral sensation after she drove passengers to safety, even as 3 to 4 feet of water filled the bus.

"People literally standing on their seat to make sure they did not drown inside a bus," Hochul said. "She stood there, she drove, through the night and did what it took to get people there safely."