Trapped in Basements and Cars, They Lost Their Lives in Savage Storm

The storm’s victims included at least 15 people in New York State and 23 in New Jersey. Some died as waters inundated their basement homes.

At 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mingma Sherpa, who lived in a basement apartment in Queens with her husband and toddler son, frantically called her upstairs neighbor for help. “The water is coming in right now,” Choi Sledge, the neighbor, said, recalling Ms. Sherpa’s desperation. “Get out! Get to the third floor!” Ms. Sledge said she screamed into the phone. But the family did not come upstairs. Ms. Sledge called them again. The call was brief. “The last thing I hear from them is, ‘The water coming in from the window.’ And that was it,” Ms. Sledge said on Thursday.