Dozens killed overnight in NYC, NJ during historic flooding
Dozens of people were killed across New York and New Jersey — including a 2-year-old boy and his parents who drowned in a basement apartment in Queens — as the tail-end of Hurricane Ida ravaged the northeast.
The storm knocked out power and flooded streets, homes and subways — prompting the first-ever flash flood emergency for the Big Apple and leaving a trail of devastation from Maryland to New York.
Thirteen people in the five boroughs were reported killed by late Thursday evening, according to NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison. Many of the victims became trapped in flooded basement apartments and one person was found dead in the backseat of their car on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens.
“I don’t have an exact answer regarding how many people are actually missing, but we are going to continue to work hard throughout the day and the evening to identify everyone’s location,” the chief said.
Cops were out in the hardest-hit areas Thursday evening knocking on doors to make sure the residents are safe, Harrison said.
Suburban Westchester County reported three fatalities, including Fran and Ken Bailie, longtime computer science professors at Iona College who never made it home after teaching there Wednesday, school officials said. A Mount Kisco man found dead in floodwaters in Elmsford was identified as Rabbi Shmuel David Weissmandl, the son of a famed Jewish religious leader.
At least 23 people died in the Garden State, including a family of three found in the same apartment complex, the state’s Gov. Phil Murphy said late Thursday.
The rising death toll came as a state of emergency was in effect after the historic downpour knocked out power, closed roads and destroyed homes and businesses across the five boroughs.
As recovery efforts continued throughout the day, rescuers were still searching for more stranded and missing people, bracing for a potentially higher death toll.
“Our hearts go out to the victims,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press briefing in Queens Thursday with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“We pray that the number does not go up.”
Among the dead was a family — 50-year-old Ang Gelu Lama, 48-year-old Mingma Sherpa and their son, two-year-old Lobsang Lama — who drowned inside their basement apartment in Flushing, Queens.
The other deaths in Queens included Yue Lian Chen, 86; Phamatee Ramskriet, 43, and her 22-year-old son Khrishah Ramskriet; 48-year-old Darlene Hsu; and three others – two males and a female – who haven’t been identified, according to law enforcement sources and police. The body of 66-year-old Roberto Bravo was discovered in his flooded apartment in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, cops said.
The 23 who died in New Jersey included a 70-year-old man swept away in his car in Passaic and 31-year-old Dhanush Reddy, who died when he was sucked into a 36-inch storm sewer pipe, officials said.
A Connecticut State Police trooper also died when his cruiser was swept away. Sgt. Brian Mohl had 26 years of service with the state police.
Elsewhere along the East Coast, a 19-year-old man was found dead in a flooded apartment complex in Rockville, Maryland, and at least five people were killed in Pennsylvania, including one killed by a fallen tree and another who drowned in his car after helping his wife to escape.
The storm also wreaked havoc on the region’s utility and transit systems.
More than 200,000 electricity customers were still without power early Thursday across the northeast – mostly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, according to PowerOutage.US.
New York’s FDR Drive and the Bronx River Parkway were flooded from the overnight torrential downpour, submerging cars up to their windows and forcing drivers to leave their vehicles behind.
Later Thursday, around a dozen cars that had been submerged up to their windows laid abandoned along the FDR.
Subway tracks and stations were also submerged, prompting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to suspend all service, which largely resumed with lingering delays by late afternoon.
In New Jersey, the NJ Transit suspended rail services, except the Atlantic City Rail Line, and the Newark Light Rail was also halted. Newark International Airport shutdown overnight but restarted limited flights Thursday morning.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont all issued emergency declarations for their states as they reeled from the destruction and President Biden said he’d spoken to the governors, telling them Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel were on the ground to provide assistance.
At a press conference in Queens, Hochul, New York’s newly-sworn in chief executive, pledged to ensure the havoc and loss of life caused by flooding doesn’t occur in the future.
“What happened yesterday –– trains were shut down, people were stranded. The fear that they must have experienced I cannot imagine,” she said. “I don’t want this to happen again.”
The National Weather Service recorded 3.15 inches of rain fell in Central Park in an hour, from 8:51 to 9:51 pm — believed to be the most ever. At least 7.19 inches of rain fell there in total, the NWS said. Tropical Storm Henri dumped 1.94 inches in Central Park last month.
Additional reporting Georgett Roberts and Gabrielle Fonrouge
