iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Hurricane Ida has been causing untold catastrophe on thousands of lives for the people in New York and New Jersey. As of now, the hurricane has left 46 people dead in five states.
Among this, was one Indian American woman named Malathi Kanche of New Jersey who had gone missing.
Intense search has been going on for the past three days in social media to look for Kanche, asking for any information and whereabouts of Kanche.
Kanche, 46, was last spotted caught in a flash flood in the Bridgewater area of New Jersey, on Wednesday, September 1. She lives in Raritan, New Jersey, and was last seen in route 22 where she had to get out of the flooded car.
According to reports, Kanche was heading home after dropping her son off at college Wednesday evening when the small SUV she was driving was overwhelmed by floodwaters set off by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
With the vehicle stalled in waist-deep water on Route 22, she and her 15-year-old daughter climbed out. They clung to a tree as the torrent rushed past, according to a close family friend and neighbor, Mansi Mago.
Then the tree gave way, and “the water took her,” said Mago, recounting what another stranded motorist told her hours later.
A 46-year-old software designer who emigrated from India, Kanche was one of six people who were still missing two days after Ida caused the deaths of at least 25 people in New Jersey — more fatalities than in any other state — as the monster storm whipped its way onto the Gulf Coast and tore north to New England.
Indian community members across the New York, New Jersey area have been relentlessly trying to trace Kanche. From WhatsApp, messages to social media posts and even Zoom calls among friends were hosted and alerts were issued to look for Kanche.
Her friends are looking for professional help and divers are still working to find her. Her friends are asking all online media and community members to help look for her as the system is already overwhelmed with hundreds of people missing. Her friends walked by the woods and the nearby area looking for her.
Meanwhile, the family and friends are also distressed with confusing news coming in from unreliable sources. There have been rumors on WhatsApp that she got electrocuted and that her remains have been found. However, her friends deny this news.
A Facebook live conducted by Jyotsna Sharma had her friend Amul Mago appealing to the professionals from the community to come forward and share if they have any better ideas on how to expedite search for her.
