NEW YORK — At least eight people in New York City died from the impact of heavy rains as the city was hit by historic flooding on Wednesday night, according to local media reports.

All the victims were in basement apartments, trapped by the flooding overnight.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency overnight covering New York City and surrounding counties.

"Torrential rainfall has resulted in flash flooding, power outages, travel disruptions and damage in impacted areas posing a threat to public health and safety," said Hochul.

New York City imposed a city-wide travel ban until 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) Thursday asking all non-emergency vehicles to stay off streets and highways.

A travel advisory to stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel is still in place as clean-up efforts are underway.

Three subway lines are still fully suspended with over ten subway lines partially suspended as of 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the website of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The authority was earlier forced to suspend night service for nearly all subways as tracks and stations were submerged.

"Service across our system is extremely limited as we work to recover from last night's heavy rainfall and flooding," said the transport authority in a notice.

New York City had registered five to 10 inches of rain by 10 a.m. Thursday since remnants of Tropical Depression Ida hit the city on Wednesday, according to New York City Emergency Management. — Agencies