4 SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
At least 10 Queens residents dead from Ida fl ooding
BY ZACHARY GEWELB
ZGEWELB@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Three people were found dead
in the basement of a Flushing
apartment on Thursday, Sept.
2, bringing the total of residents who
died during the fl ooding to at least 10
throughout the borough, according to
authorities.
Fire department sources say that
units responded to a report of persons
underwater in the basement at 153-10
Peck Ave. around noon on Thursday.
Offi cers from the 109th Precinct also
responded and, upon arriving at the
scene, found three people — two females
and one male — dead.
Police could not confirm the
identity of the victims, but an FDNY
spokesperson said the fatalities were
storm-related.
The fatalities add to the total number
of deaths in Queens in the aft ermath of
Hurricane Ida.
A mother, father and son were found
dead in the basement of their Woodside
home on 64th Street around 10 p.m.
Wednesday night, police said.
Offi cers from the 108th Precinct responded
to a call regarding a fl ooding
condition and, upon arriving at the
scene, found 2-year-old Lobsang Lama,
his 50-year-old father, Ang Lama, and
An emotional embrace on 183rd Street in Jamaica, where a 43-year-old
mother and her 22-year-old son were found dead. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
48-year-old mother, Mingma Sherpa,
who were found unconscious in the
basement of the residence.
They were pronounced dead at the
scene.
The city’s medical examiner will
investigate the causes of death and the
investigation is ongoing.
Then, just before 11 a.m., offi cers from
the 112th Precinct responded to a call
regarding a fl ooding condition in Forest
Hills near Grand Central Parkway near
Horace Harding Expressway.
Upon arriving at the scene, offi cers
found 48-year-old Darlene Hsu unconscious
in the basement of a residence. EMS
arrived at the scene and transported her
to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital,
where she was pronounced dead.
The city’s medical examiner will
investigate the cause of death and the
investigation is ongoing.
Around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday night,
officers from the 103rd Precinct responded
to a call regarding a fl ooding
condition at 183rd Street in Jamaica.
Upon their arrival, offi cers found a
43-year-old mother and her 22-yearold
son — later identifi ed as Phamatee
Ramskriet and Khrishah Ramskrie,
respectively — unconscious in their
basement.
EMS arrived and transported
Phamatee Ramskriet to NYC Health +
Hospitals/Queens, where she was pronounced
dead. Khrishah Ramskrie was
pronounced dead at the scene, police
said.
The city’s medical examiner will
investigate the causes of death and the
investigation is ongoing.
Just before midnight, offi cers from
the 110th Precinct responded to a call
regarding a fl ooding condition at a
residence on 84th Street in Elmhurst.
Upon their arrival, officers found
86-year-old Yue Lian Chen unconscious
in the residence.
EMS responded and pronounced
Chen dead at the scene.
The city’s medical examiner will
investigate the causes of death and the
investigation is ongoing.
Biden tours Ida-ravaged Queens nabe
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
President Joe Biden visited New
York City Tuesday, Sept. 7, touring
a section of Queens that was
among the worst hit by the remnants
of Tropical Storm Ida last week.
Biden walked an alley near 88th
Street and Astoria Boulevard in East
Elmhurst with local electeds, where
fl oods rose dangerously high during
the record-shattering rainfall last week,
and the commander-in-chief said that
now is the time for “bold action” to
combat climate change, which has
made extreme weather more frequent
and ferocious.
“My message to everyone grappling
with this devastation is: We’re here,
we’re not going home until this gets
done — I really mean that,” Biden told
reporters. “We’re not leaving. We’re
going to continue to shout as long as it
takes to get real progress here.”
“We have to take some bold action
now to tackle the accelerating eff ects
of climate change,” he said.
The neighborhood suffered catastrophic
fl oods when the storm hit the
Big Apple on the night of Wednesday,
Sept. 1, killing 13 people citywide, and
Biden said seeing the damage fi rst-hand
in the working-class, immigrant neighborhood
was an “eye-opener.”
“This is America, where I’m standing
right now. These are the people … who
built this country and it’s about time we
step up,” he said. “They’re always the
fi rst ones that are hurt and the last ones
that are helped, but that’s not gonna
happen this time.”
The extreme weather has also caused
at least $50 million in damage to public
infrastructure and property when it
hit the city on the night of Wednesday,
Sept. 1, and more than 1,200 homes were
damaged due to the record-shattering
downpour of rain, according to state
and federal experts.
The president pushed for lawmakers
in Congress to pass the infrastructure
bill and the budget reconciliation legislation
to boost the country’s infrastructure,
citing his own Build Back Better
proposal.
“You can’t build what it was before
this last storm, you gotta build better
so if the storm occurred again, there
would be no damage,” he said. “Folks,
we’ve gotta listen to the scientists,
and the economists, and the national
security experts. They all tell us this
is code red. The nation and the world
are in peril, and that’s not hyperbole,
that is a fact.”
Biden’s administration approved a
Major Disaster Declaration on Monday
unlocking a boost in federal storm
recovery aid to local governments and
directly to New York City residents
through the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA).
The fi nancial support includes repairs
or replacement of people’s property
damaged in the storm; moving
and storage; medical, dental and child
care; crisis counseling; unemployment
assistance; and legal services.
He arrived at JFK Airport Tuesday
morning and traveled to meet with
leaders in New Jersey, before returning
to the Big Apple to visit Queens with
Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bill
de Blasio and other local politicians.
To apply for federal assistance related
to Ida, go to disasterassistance.gov or call
1-800-621-FEMA.
President Joe Biden on Sept. 7, greets residents in East Elmhurst.
Photo by REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
/disasterassistance.gov
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
