Thirteen doomed New
Yorkers, all however trapped interior flash-flooded basement apartments,
have been killed whilst the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida unleashed a deadly
summer time season typhoon throughout a rain-soaked city, government stated Thursday.
The lifeless, which include an autistic 14-month-vintage boy and an
86-year-vintage woman, have become sufferers of catastrophic flooding after the
devastating climate gadget dumped record-breaking rain at the boroughs.
Eleven of the fatalities took place in six incidents in Queens. The
different fatalities died in separate incidents in Brooklyn.
Neighbors of folks that died mentioned scary memories of basements flooded from
ground to ceiling withinside the blink of an eye, with the sufferers helpless
to break out the surging waters.
The tiniest victim, little Lobsang Lama, perished with his immigrant parents
inside their Queens basement home after they were trapped by fast-rising
floodwaters. His father Ang Lama, 50, and mother Mingma Sherpa, 48, were also
killed as the deadly flooding filled their Woodside home and even the
first-floor apartment above.
“The baby was so cute,” said the little boy’s grief-stricken teacher Martha
Suarez after arriving Thursday morning for her daily session with the child at
the family’s home on 64th st. and Laurel Hill Blvd.
“Just a happy boy, very nice family ... They didn’t call me, they didn’t cancel
me, so I was coming as usual.”
The 53-year-old Suarez burst into tears, taking deep breaths, after arriving to
find the family apartment where she started work this week blocked off by
police tape and surrounded by the media.
“This is too hard for me,” she said, adding the family was originally from
Nepal.
The building owner, who lives on the third floor, received a desperate call for
help from the doomed family in the downstairs apartment, said Deborah Torres,
38, who lives directly above the doomed family.
“The owner said, ‘Get out! Get out from the basement!’ And when she called
again they never picked up,” Torres said.
Torres watched in horror as her sofa began bobbing on the rising water in her
home.
“I wasn’t paying attention to my things — I was so worried about the family
downstairs,” Torres said. “It was so fast. My daughter started to scream,
‘Mommy! Mommy! The water’s coming up!’”
The 84-year-old victim was found dead just before midnight Wednesday when her
son came to the basement apartment on 84th St. near 55th Road in Elmhurst, cops
said. Neighbors said the local streets were flooded as building residents tried
in vain to rescue the doomed senior citizen.
“I guess they didn’t know where to find her,” said a neighbor on the
second floor building. “Everyone’s rushing in, trying to get to her.”
Neighbor Jan Huang, a retired senior citizen, said the victim lived in a house
owned by her son in an area known for flooding.
“Oh my God,” she said. “That’s so sad. I feel sorry for her. This really
shouldn’t happen.”
First responders found an unresponsive mother and son in a flooded Hollis
basement apartment after a wall gave way Wednesday, instantly filling the room
with water before NYPD divers dramatically rescued another building resident at
11:15 p.m.
Khrishah Ramskriet, 22, perished inside the home while his mom Phamatee
Ramskriet, 43, died at Queens Hospital after officials arrived at the
nightmarish scene. The divers who recovered the bodies also saved building
owner Ragenbra Shivprafab’s 39-year-old son Amit, who tried to rescue the
doomed downstairs neighbors.
“These cops were giving their lives to get them,” Shivprafab said. “My son was
scrambling to get down. He was already in, trying to get them, and the cops
pulled him out. He would have died too.”
The dead woman’s husband and another son survived, said Shivprafab, who lives
in the building and urged the family to flee before it was too late.
“I go down there and I tell them, ‘You guys got to be careful. The water’s
rising. We’re getting a flood,’” said Shivprafab, 71. “I go back and tell them
(again), ‘You guys got to get out! They were packing up their stuff to bring
out. I told them that is not important. Leave the stuff.’
“Then she and her son died.”
Shiprafab said the wife started screaming as the apartment flooded and he was
up to his waist within seconds of telling the family to run for their lives.
The water was still pouring in when his son Amit launched an ill-fated rescue
try.
“I couldn’t even see where I was going. That’s how bad it was,” the son said.
“The water force hit the door and broke it with me coming right back out. I
almost went down but good thing I held onto the doorknob.”
About 15 minutes after the horrific Hollis tragedy, a 66-year-old Brooklyn man
— who survived COVID-19 — was found dead in his flooded basement apartment on
Ridgewood Ave. in East New York.
The bother of victim Roberto Bravo called his sibling four times in 12 minutes
Wednesday night, urging him to leave the apartment after the skies opened up.
Pablo Bravo braced for the worse when his 10:06 p.m. call went unanswered.
“I don’t think he took it that serious,” the devastated sibling said
Thursday. “I think he believed he had plenty of time to get out and now I find
out that the water pressure locked the doors. I don’t know what was in his
mind.”
Pablo said three other family members escaped with their lives from the
building, where the basement had previously suffered minor flooding.
“But this time it was so fast,” he said. “The basement was filled from
bottom to ceiling.”
About 10:45 p.m., police responding to flooding inside the basement of an
apartment building on Grand Central Parkway near 62nd Drive in Corona found
Darlene Hsu, 48, unconscious, officials said. She died after EMS transported
her to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills.
The victim’s ex-husband Dennis Hsu said her death was a freak accident while
she visited with the building super in his basement apartment.
“He got called away,” explained Hsu. “He had to go take care of the pumps. My
understanding is when he left the windows blew out ... and the all the waters
rushed into the apartment.”
When Darlene tried to flee, he said, the surging water slammed the door shut,
blocking her exit.
“She was a very loving, caring person,” he said. “She loved the beach. She
loved swimming, she loved the outdoors.”
Three more bodies were discovered about 11:40 a.m. Monday by the super of an
apartment building on Peck Ave. next to Kissena Park in Queens. NYPD divers
recovered the corpses of the two women and a man from the still-flooded
basement. Cops were not been able to immediately identify the victims.
“We believe they were trapped with flood waters but there are some issues
detectives are going to have to investigate,” said NYPD Chief of Community
Affairs Jeffrey Maddrey.
A 12th victim, one of two not killed in a subterranean flood, was discovered
about 10:45 a.m. on the Grand Central Parkway near LaGuardia Airport.
Police found a charred body inside a burned out car that had been rear-ended —
a death they believe was flood-related. Cops were working to identify the
victim, who was burned beyond recognition.
The 13th victim was discovered floating in the Gowanus Canal just after 12:45
p.m., near 25th St. and Third Ave. in Greenwood Heights. Police described him
as a man in his 40s, but couldn’t identify him or say what happened to him.
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