Residents of Rockaway, Broad Channel and other coastal areas woke up on Monday and Tuesday to scenes that caused Hurricane Sandy flashbacks. Water, from few inches to more than two-and-a-half feet, inundated certain blocks on the peninsula and several side roads of Broad Channel, mostly due to an astronomical high tide during the new moon.
Many making their morning commute were surprised to find roads turned into rivers when the first high tide rolled in at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, without warning. Emergency services and local offices received calls of heavily flooded streets all across the peninsula, before it receded around 9 a.m. Unlike Hurricane Sandy, the water didn’t roll down the streets from the bay or ocean. Much of it came from storm drains.
According to the Office of Emergency Management, the surprise flooding was caused by a high tide. “In the end, it was just a higher tide than what was originally forecasted. Minor coastal flooding tides were predicted but a higher tide turned it into moderate flooding,” Omar Bourne, of the NYOEM press office said. According to the American Littoral Society-Northeast Chapter, whose Broad Channel office was flooded, the abnormally high tide was due to a combination of the New Moon, an offshore storm in the Atlantic and a northeast wind. According to Councilman Ulrich’s office, the water came up from the street due to the increased height of the water table, likely caused by last week’s snow storm. “It may be that the rising water table and tides saturate the ability of the storm drain system to drain,” Robby Schwach of Ulrich’s office said. “When this happens, there is no place for the water to exit since the bay is at high tide as well, and the water cannot go down into the storm drains.”
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder protective measures likely wouldn’t have helped in this situation. “It’s unfortunate, but I urge people not to jump to conclusions. A higher bay wall, jetties or higher dunes wouldn’t have helped. The water came up from the ground and simply inundated us with water from beneath,” Goldfeder said.
Following the morning flooding, Mayor de Blasio advised residents of Queens and Brooklyn that coastal flooding could be expected through Wednesday morning. The evening tides were not as severe as the morning, but Tuesday morning’s tide once again caused moderate flooding.
Local politicians kept in touch with city agencies and civic associations to disseminate information throughout the ordeal. The Department of Environmental Protection was said to have sent staff to investigate some of the heavily flooded areas to inspect catch basins and drains, but officials say that likely wasn’t the issue since the flooding was a widespread issue that also impacted parts of Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey. “The fact that so many areas had flooding in the streets probably indicates it wasn’t a few clogged drains,” Schwach said. “If it was one isolated area, it would be easier to investigate, but this was a case of an unusually high tide that caught people off-guard,” Goldfeder said.
Among those caught off guard were drivers. Rockaway Park resident, Maureen Blum Del Vecchio has commuted to Long Beach for over 15 years and said she had never seen flooding like that. “I thought there must have been a bad water main break, but I kept seeing it more as I drove east. At one point, the water was easily above my car door and I thought the car was going to die. Once I got past Seagirt, it started to clear, but when I was near West Park Ave in Long Beach, all hell broke loose. I had never felt that vulnerable driving a car. I live in the buildings, so during Sandy, I was looking down at everything, but being in my car during the flood made me realize what everyone lower down must have felt during Sandy. It was very scary,” Blum Del Vecchio recalled.
Another highly vulnerable area, and the worst hit by this week’s flooding was Broad Channel. According to Rockaway Times columnist Peter Mahon, the street water level reached 28 inches on Monday morning and 26 inches on Tuesday. Several residents lost cars and some had water in their properties.
West 12th resident, Edwin Freiburg says he lost two cars on Monday. “The tide was a surprise. By the time we saw it there was nothing we could do except watch. Both of my cars are totaled,” Freiburg said. “It’s upsetting because I just finished paying for my little car and we’re still repairing our house from Sandy.” Vulnerable to flooding, Broad Channel residents pay close attention to the tides. “We knew the tides we’re going to be high, according to the charts but we didn’t expect the surges to be this strong,” lifelong resident, Mike Schilling said. However despite the frequent threat, residents remain positive. “This isn’t a reason to move. These are our homes and where our families have planted our roots. Is it annoying? Sure, but we’re always going to come together and help each other in a time of need. That’s what makes us Broad Channel,” Schilling said.
(Photos for this story were taken by Gustavo Bonet, Peter Mahon, Susanne Max, Ryan McGrisken,Cammie Moynihan, Kathy Muldoon-Guiseppone, Peter Galvin, Mike Bulling)
No comments:
Post a Comment