Off-duty NYPD cop who drowned in his basement while saving his family among Sandy's death toll

Hurricane Sandy kills at least 19 New Yorkers

Fallen trees, down power lines and flooded streets were a deadly combination for residents across the city.

Destruction, disruption -- and death.

With 80 mph winds and raging floodwaters, Hurricane Sandy killed at least 19 New Yorkers -- including an off-duty cop who drowned rescuing family, an elderly woman whose oxygen machine lost power, and two friends hit by a tree while walking a dog.

Officials had good reason to fear the already heartbreaking toll of city residents drowned, electrocuted or crushed could still rise.

Two little boys, ages 2 and 4, were listed as missing nearly 24 hours after they were separated from their mother when her car was submerged on Father Capodanno Blvd. on Staten Island, sources said.

The mom typically dropped little Connor and Brandon at a relative's house in Brooklyn on her way to work as a nurse. But Monday night, she panicked as her car filled with water, a neighbor on Nash St. said.

“She got stuck,” the neighbor said. “She got the kids out of the back and somehow she lost them...I can’t imagine how she feels,” the neighbor added.

Police also were still checking on homes where residents had been out of touch with loved ones -- and finding more horror throughout the day.

Fallen trees, downed power lines and flooded streets and homes proved to be a tragic combination over and over again for so many people, from an eighth grader found dead in debris on the street to senior citizens who couldn’t escape the rising tide in their homes.

Here are Sandy’s victims:

-- The off-duty officer, Artur Kasprzak, 28, hustled his relatives, including a 15-month-old baby, to the attic of the family’s Doty Ave. home on Staten Island as the storm surged inside.

The six-year NYPD veteran then went downstairs to look for his father -- and never returned.

"He went to the basement. And the water just started washing in,” said his sister Marta. “He was pushed into a window. We were up in the attic. The water just kept coming in.

"It was just like a movie. People don't think this could happen. But it did."

The family called 911 and Scuba units in boats and on jetskis immediately responded, but couldn’t get in because of the water was electrified by a power line.

Once it was safe to enter, officers began to search. They found Kasprzak dead in the basement about 7 a.m. Tuesday.

His best friend, Tommy Krol, 29, said he learned of his buddy’s death when he showed up at the family home with pumps and generators he brought from his house in New Jersey.

“I said, ‘You need any help?’ And they looked at me and said, you’re a little too late,” Krol said. “He was a brave guy. He loved being a cop. He loved his job.”

Kasprzak was assigned to the 1st Precinct in lower Manhattan.

“He was really a great guy, well-liked, very professional and hard working,” said Deputy Inspector Edward Winski, the commanding officer. “It was very difficult this morning when I had to tell everyone. It's heart-breaking, to be honest with you."

-- In Richmond Hill, Queens, Lauren Abraham, 23, taking cell phone photos of a power line that had caught fire, suffered a horrific death after she stepped on a live wire on the sidewalk and fell to the ground, screaming.

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