New Orleans has spent years preparing for storms like Hurricane Ida. NYC wasn’t at all prepared for what hit it (because what hit it was so unexpected). Yesterday, I explained that the Caldor fire in California is only the second fire in recorded history to cross from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other. The first was the Dixie that did it just a few weeks ago. Ida similarly smashed a NYC rain record that was set just last month. Apocalyptic is the new normal. AP: “A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers, tornado damage and continuing calls for rescue Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, filling low-lying apartments with water and turning roads into car-swallowing canals.” More than 25 deaths after Ida remnants slam Northeast. The images and videos from NY are insane. And here’s a stunning video of a tornado ripping across New Jersey.

+ NPR: NYC’s Subway Flooding Isn’t A Fluke. It’s The Reality For Cities In A Warming World.