4 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Hurricane Ida
Woodside residents devastated by toddler’s death
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Woodside residents on 64th Street were
devastated to learn that a family of three
was found dead in the basement of their
home Sept. 1, as remnants of Hurricane
Ida pummeled the city with heavy
rainfall and severe fl ooding,
quickly fi lling basement apartments
in the area.
Offi cers from the 108th
Precinct responded to a call
regarding a fl ooding condition
at the home located on
64th Street near Laurel Hill
Boulevard. Upon arrival
at the scene at
around 10 p.m.,
autho r i t i e s
discovered
Martha Suarez was
shocked to her the news
of the family’s death.
2-year-old Lobsang Lama, his 50-yearold
father, Ang Lama, and 48-year-old
mother, Mingma Sherpa, who were found
unconscious.
Th e family was pronounced dead.
The city’s medical examiner is
investigating the causes of death and the
investigation is ongoing, according to
authorities.
As residents along the block were cleaning
their homes and were trying to fi x
their disabled cars, fi refi ghters and police
offi cers 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 fi ve 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,
FDNY fi refi ghters and NYPD offi cers arrive at the Woodside residence located at 44-60 64th St. where a family of three was found dead
in their basement apartment.
when she didn’t receive a
phone call from them,
she decided to go to the
house.
“Th e 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 the family’s residence,
said they were quiet people.
“Th ey 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 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 fl ooded with water. “Th e 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 fi ne and we are fi xing
up the apartment. Th e water is gone,”
Chowdhury said. “Th ank 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. “Th e water here was
incredibly high in this particular location.”
According to Van Bramer, the basement
in all of the homes on the block were
fl ooded signifi cantly.
“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 offi ce
and will start discussions for my constituents
to receive assistance, fi le 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 fl ooding, Van Bramer said the city
and federal government needs to address
Photos by Carlotta Mohamed
the climate crisis in order to prevent escalating
storms that he says are “dangerous
and devastating.”
“We need to modernize infrastructure.
Th is 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.
Th e 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.”
Firefi ghters speak with a resident who was removing her belongings from her home.
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