Trinidadian woman, son killed in catastrophic New York floods
(Trinidad Guardian) A Trinidadian mother and her son lost their lives in historic floods that swept through New York City overnight from Wednesday to yesterday.
They were attempting to salvage their belongings at a Queens, New York apartment where they lived when tragedy struck.
Prematti “Tara” Ramskiret, 43, and her son Nicholas Ramskiret, 22, both died when floodwaters burst through the concrete wall of their 183rd Street, Hollis, Queens basement apartment.
Prematti’s husband Dameshwar and her other son Dylan were not in the apartment at the time.
The duo is among at least 45 people killed during the devastating floods across northeastern United States, which meteorologists said dropped 35 billion gallons of rainfall in just five hours.
News reports said the family lived in the apartment for 15 years. Neighbours said they could do little to help them, as within seconds water rose as high as four feet.
A neighbour, Mahen Singh, told CBS New York, “I heard a loud scream...It was devastating. I was right out there; I watched the whole thing... Nobody could even help them. They were very helpless.”
A local relative of Premattie, whose family is from Cunupia, Trinidad, said they spoke to Prematti on Wednesday and she told them that there was a lot of rain because of Hurricane Ida. She said they were told Prematti and her son had gone back into the apartment to salvage somethings when the incident happened.
“She was leaving the apartment but went back for something. All a neighbour heard was a scream and water started to gush in with a force,” the relative said. The relative said Prematti and her long time sweetheart Dameshwar migrated to New York when their first son was just eight months old to make a better life.
The relative said Prematti was a homemaker and her son, Nicholas, was preparing for college.