The women were inside separate vehicles on Sunday that became caught in flood waters in the town of Oxford, Connecticut, located about 55km southwest of state capital Hartford.

“At this difficult time, our thoughts are with the family of the deceased,” Connecticut State Police Colonel Daniel Loughman said at a Monday news conference.

State police later identified the victims as 65-year-old Ethelyn Joiner and 71-year-old Audrey Rostkowski, both residents of Oxford, according to local media reports.

Connecticut governor Ned Lamont said in a statement on Sunday evening that over 100 people had been rescued from unsafe conditions due to the flooding.

“We are talking about rainfall, in some areas, in the thousand-year level,” said Brenda Bergeron, the deputy commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

“It’s really historic, unprecedented flooding.”

By Monday morning, up to 30cm of rainfall had been reported in several cities in western Connecticut, according to data from the National Weather Service.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal called the devastation “gut-churning, not just to the physical infrastructure…but also to small businesses who have suffered damage they cannot recover.”

Scientists say climate change makes extreme weather such as heavy rains and tropical storms more frequent and intense.