At a recent town hall meeting, Rockaway residents sought answers from elected leaders and federal officials as to why their homes and businesses were inundated by flooding during Winter Storm Elliot just before Christmas.
The event on Jan. 5 at the Goldie Maple Academy in Arverne was organized by state Senator James Sander, who likened the Rockaways to the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
“We’re looking for solutions,” Sanders said to open the public meeting.
Among the panel were Patrick Touhy, an emergency specialist from FEMA, and Michael Oseback, the project manager of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ongoing $702 million coastal storm risk management initiative.
The project has created reinforced dunes to meet rising sea levels along the 10-mile-long peninsula, but the winter storm brought flooding from Jamaica Bay.
“Infrastructure projects are in the pipeline including surge and tide gates, and we have seven pump stations that will provide drainage for these neighborhoods,” Oseback said. “And we’re also constructing berms to help reduce the impacts and counteract the flood actions we do see happening in the Jamaica Bay area of the Rockaways.”
Councilwoman Joann Ariola was pleased to see a full complement of high-ranking federal, state, and city agency heads addressing the crowd who recently marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy.
“It was truly heartbreaking to hear so many stories of people who have still, 10 years later, not yet fully recovered from Sandy, and now they are being impacted yet again by flooding — this time from Winter Storm Elliot,” Ariola said. “It was eye-opening to realize that many of the resiliency measures put in place and are continuing to be put in place after Sandy is just not working. We have to do better.”
Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers commended city agencies such as the Office of Emergency Management for their rapid response in the aftermath of the storm.
“Winter Storm Elliott demonstrated that we have much work to do to ensure Rockaway community members are protected when storms come,” Brooks-Powers said. “We must invest more heavily in prevention and resiliency measures in southeast Queens. The historical underfunding of these measures in underinvested communities like ours is unacceptable. Experts say storms like Elliott will increase in frequency and severity in the decades to come — with each passing year, more New Yorkers’ homes and lives are at risk. All levels of government must work together and act decisively to meet this challenge.”
The town hall meeting gave constituents a platform to express their anger towards the responsible agencies, according to Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson.
“Roughly 300 members of the Southeast Queens community gathered in Far Rockaway to express their legitimate frustrations and desperation in the aftermath of Winter Storm Elliot,” Anderson said. “As a lifelong resident of Far Rockaway, I am committed to ensuring that we are better prepared not if but when the next disaster strikes. My fellow elected officials and I will continue to listen to the community and work collaboratively with residents and community partners to strengthen resiliency. We will continue to make sure federal, state, and city elected officials and government agencies are accountable to vulnerable communities like Far Rockaway, Rosedale, and Springfield Gardens. My office will continue to work with our elected partners to fight through bureaucracy, provide relief and assistance, and advocate for expedited timelines where possible.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called on the federal, state, and city governments to address inadequate street sewage infrastructure and he urged the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the Bay Protection Project and on-the-ground resiliency projects.
“Yet again, southeast Queens, the Rockaways, and surrounding areas have undergone horrible yet entirely foreseeable mass flooding. Sixteen months after Hurricane Ida struck our shores and killed 13 fellow New Yorkers, our government has not made the changes, improvements, and recoveries necessary to protect and shelter its citizens,” Williams said. “These residents don’t just need our words of hope; the people deserve real plans, commitments, and genuine change. The city, state, and the federal government must accomplish the difficult but vital steps to both prevent and mitigate future disasters.”
