Need Billions To Fix Flooding

Two giant rainstorms within the past month have left residents continuing to assess the damage to their homes and elected officials asking questions why the flooding problems in Queens have been so severe as well as what the city can do in the short and long-term to prevent similar occurrences.
City Councilmember Leroy Comrie, who represents areas in southeast Queens that were severely impacted by three recent rounds of flooding, estimated that long-term improvements to the sewer system in Queens would cost the city billions of dollars.
Comrie pointed out portions of his district that were tree-lined, undeveloped areas that used to be a run-off zone for floodwaters 10 years ago, have now been replaced by homes, churches and other developments that are now experiencing flooding. He said that portions of sewer pipes may need replacement or widening in order to meet the needs of the new developments said that the city would need federal assistance to make these improvements.
Currently, elected officials throughout the city, and particularly those in Queens, are working with the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to examine catch basins and sewers in order to determine the urgency for cleaning, which could prevent flooding woes in the short term.
City Councilmember Joseph Addabbo, who represents portions of southern Queens, said he is used to seeing areas in Hamilton Beach and Beach Channel flood during storms, but he is concerned that the flooding zone is extending to portions of Ozone Park. Addabbo has toured areas with DEP officials, but he stressed that relieving the burden on catch basins will not solve long-term flooding problems.
“The big picture is development,” Addabbo said. “If we keep building multi-family homes [then] maybe we need a larger diameter pipe to handle the rain.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, August 20, Governor Eliot Spitzer called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island disaster areas in order to provide assistance and relief for temporary housing expenses, household repairs and low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration and funding to safeguard against future disasters.
“The severity and impact of this storm warrant supplementary Federal assistance, and I hope FEMA will quickly make an emergency declaration,” Spitzer said.
Comrie praised Spitzer for recognizing the crisis in the borough.
“I’m pleased that he is coming out and called for federal assistance,” Comrie said. “It’s imperative that we get the Feds to understand that the flooding situation in Queens is going to be a continued problem for many years.”
Morning rainstorms on Wednesday, July 18 and Thursday, August 9 caused widespread flooding throughout the city, shutting down the mass transit system for parts of both days and creating nightmare conditions for homeowners.
Oakland Gardens resident Elizabeth Silver, an assistant pastry chef at
Google, left her house at 7:15 a.m. that morning and after maneuvering around various subway, city and express bus lines, she finally arrived at her job in Chelsea, Manhattan at 11:30 a.m. - more than three hours longer than her usual commute time.
“We are the city of New York. For us to be shut down because it rained is unacceptable,” said City Councilmember Melinda Katz, whose central Queens district experienced an inordinate amount of flooding from the August 8 storm.
“There is a clear need for an updated infrastructure in our borough,” Katz said. “It’s a common message and one that we really should not have to keep saying.”
In addition, Katz said that communication between city agencies as well as the city’s dissemination of information to residents must improve during storms citing several complaints her constituents have logged with 3-1-1.
Meanwhile, State Senator Serphin Maltese recently announced a proposal to allocate $15 million in funds to a fact-finding study to determine the root of Queens’ flooding woes. However, the state legislature and the governor need to sign off on the funding before the study can commence.
“Sewage running into basements, cars submerged in our streets and commuters trapped in flooded subways should not be the norm for our residents every time it rains – especially with hurricane season upon us,” Maltese said.