Woodside residents devastated by toddler’s
death during fl ooding from Hurricane Ida
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Woodside residents on 64th
Street were devastated to learn
that a family of three was found
dead in the basement of their
home Wednesday night, Sept. 1,
as remnants of Hurricane Ida
pummeled the city with heavy
rainfall and severe flooding,
quickly filling basement apartments
in the area.
Officers from the 108th
Precinct responded to a call
regarding a flooding condition
at the home located on 64th
Street near Laurel Hill Boulevard.
Upon arrival at the scene
at around 10 p.m., authorities
discovered 2-year-old Lobsang
Lama, his 50-year-old father,
Ang Lama, and 48-year-old
mother, Mingma Sherpa, who
were found unconscious.
The family was pronounced
dead.
The city’s medical examiner
is investigating the causes of
death and the investigation is
ongoing, according to authorities
.A
s residents along the block
were cleaning their homes and
were trying to fix their disabled
cars, firefighters and police
officers were at the scene
assessing the damage.
News of the family’s death
left Martha Suarez shaken
and heartbroken, as she stood
across the street from their residence.
According to Suarez,
the family was from Nepal
and had lived in the basement
apartment for about five years.
“Is the baby in there? Are
you sure about that, he’s in
there? What about the parents
… I was coming to see them!”
Suarez said, as tears streamed
down her face. “All of them
died? I can’t believe that…”
According to Suarez, who
is a teacher, she was working
with the child, whom she says
was autistic. She was on her
way to visit the family, as she
has been doing so for the past
week, she said. However, when
she didn’t receive a phone call
from them, she decided to go to
the house.
“The baby was so cute. He
was a happy boy. I was working
with him on his language skills
— he was in need of the services,”
said Suarez, who works
for Momentum Interventions, a
public program for infants and
toddlers with special needs.
Samsul Chowdhury, who
lives three houses down from
FDNY firefighters and NYPD officers arrive at the Woodside residence where a family of three was found dead in their basement
apartment. Photos by Carlotta Mohamed
the family’s residence, said
they were quiet people.
“They used to walk by but
none of the owners knew them.
I saw them a couple of times.
Tenants come and go, some
talk and some don’t,” Chowdhury
said. “It’s devastating,
though, what happened … I feel
for them.”
Chowdhury, who has lived
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | SEPT. 10 - SEPT. 16, 2021
on the block for 10 years, says
he has “never seen anything
like this before.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I
wanted to make sure my tenant
and neighbors were okay,” said
Chowdhury, whose basement is
flooded with water. “The water
was up to my waist level — it
was that high.”
According to Chowdhury,
his tenant, who has been living
in the basement for one year,
slept upstairs in his apartment.
Almost 80% of his tenant’s belongings
are damaged, he said.
“My tenant is doing fine and
we are fixing up the apartment.
The water is gone,” Chowdhury
said. “Thank god everyone is
safe but the city should help
us.”
Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer, who visited the site to
assess the damages and lend
support to his constituents impacted
by the storm, said “the
death of one child is one too
many.”
“Unfortunately, the authorities
were not able to reach
them in time and save their
lives. Everyone is devastated
that a child died and a family
was killed on this block,” Van
Bramer said. “The water here
was incredibly high in this particular
location.”
According to Van Bramer,
the basement in all of the
homes on the block were flooded
significantly.
“Many of these basement
apartments are occupied and
lived in, and people have nowhere
to sleep,” Van Bramer
said. “We are in touch with the
mayor’s office and will start
discussions for my constituents
to receive assistance, file
claims and rebuild.”
As western Queens — which
includes the neighborhoods of
Sunnyside, Astoria, Long Island
City and Woodside — and
other parts of the borough experienced
severe flooding, Van
Bramer said the city and federal
government needs to address
the climate crisis in order to
prevent escalating storms that
he says are “dangerous and
devastating.”
“We need to modernize infrastructure.
This was an unprecedented
amount of rain in
a very short amount of time.
Obviously, our sewer system is
just overtaxed and needs to be
modernized and updated,” Van
Bramer said.
The councilman noted the
adoption of the Green New
Deal, a policy proposal with
broad goals to cut carbon emissions
across the U.S. economy.
It also tackles transportation,
electricity production and agriculture,
while aiming to create
new jobs to boost the economy.
“We need to move away
from fossil fuels and other outdated
technologies that produce
these once-in-a-lifetime
storms that are producing
weather events that we have
never seen before that keeps
happening,” Van Bramer said.
“It’s not like we don’t know why
it’s happening; we do know why
it’s happening.”
Martha Suarez was shocked to her the news of the family’s death.