7 Drown In Apartment Basements As Hurricane Ida Batters New York

At least seven people were allegedly found dead in New York City apartment basements this week as the remnants of Hurricane Ida continued to cause flooding in the area.

Firemen, along with officers from the NYPD’s 109th precinct, responded to a report of persons underwater in the basement of an apartment at 153-10 Peck Avenue in Flushing at around 12 p.m. Thursday, where they found two women and one man dead, QNS.com reported, citing fire department sources.

Police could not identify the identity of the victims, but a fire department spokesperson said the fatalities were allegedly related to the storm.

Officers from the 103rd Precinct also responded to a call regarding a flooding condition at 183rd Street in Jamaica at around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday and found a 43-year-old mother and her 22-year-old son — later identified as Phamatee Ramskriet and Krishah Ramskrie, respectively — unconscious in their basement, police said. The latter was pronounced dead at the scene.

Emergency medical personnel transported the two to NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, where the mother was pronounced dead.

Prior to that, officers from the 108th Precinct responded to a similar call in the basement of a home on 64th Street in Woodside at around 10 p.m. and found a family of three unconscious, according to police.

Two men, aged 48 and 50, as well as a 2-year-old boy, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers from the 112th Precinct responded to another flooding condition call in Forest Hills near Grand Central Parkway near Horace Harding Expressway earlier in the day at around 11 a.m., where they found 48-year-old Darlene Hsu unconscious in the basement of a residence.

EMS arrived and transported her to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The city's medical examiner will investigate the causes of death and the investigations are ongoing, according to the report.

A similar incident occurred in neighboring New Jersey when four residents of the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex along Irvington Avenue in the city of Elizabeth were found dead.

The victims were identified as a married couple consisting of a 71-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman, their 38-year-old son as well as a 33-year-old woman who was their neighbor, city spokeswoman Kelly Martins said, as per NJ.com.

At least 15 people have died in New York State as of Thursday following the storm's arrival, while at least 23 were killed in New Jersey, a report by The New York Times said.