FLOOD FATIGUE: April 15 Storm Sends Another Wallop; City Seeks State and Federal Assistance
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– By  Robin Jovanovich –

For two days, April 15 and 16, the second major flood in six weeks pounded Rye, impacting about 1,300 residents and dozens of businesses. An estimated 464 locations were without power on April 16, according to a report from the City Manager's office. “Seven different areas of town were impacted, with Indian Village at the epicenter.”

Many residents and business owners hadn't finished cleaning up from the March 2 storm; several families hadn't yet moved back home and some businesses weren't yet fully operational. Shops, businesses, restaurants and stores on Elm Place, Locust Avenue and Purchase Street sustained enormous losses.

Food establishments that were flooded were ordered to close for a minimum of three days in order to obtain Board of Health approvals. The Rye YMCA was hit hard and the facility is closed until further notice. Y staff are relocating as many programs as possible at other Rye facilities, including Rye Rec and Wainwright House.

There are so many hard-hit businesses — Fong's, The Bike Shop, Crozier Gedney Architects, Benowitz Shah Architects, Judith's Skincare, Prudential Rand Realty, Ruby's, Morgan's. The list goes on.

The April 15 storm, which dumped five inches of rain and caused millions of dollars of damage, was larger and longer in duration than the March 2 storm. Water rose up from Blind Brook and moved fast across Wappanocca Avenue, Highland Road, Purchase Street and Milton Road, to name a few.

The water was over the Rye Nature Center Bridge at 4 a.m. April 16, according to City Naturalist Chantal Detlefs. By 11 a.m. a tidal surge had pushed water across Milton Road and up several inches. At its height, the water reached 13 feet, five feet above the normal high tide.

The City was forced to close the Central Avenue Bridge because of damage from the storm.   The engineering firm that made that determination was assigned to study the Bowman Spillway and found no immediate danger of failure, but additional study is needed on the bridges and dam. According to Mayor Steve Otis, the damage to five bridges is estimated at $2.5 million. The Locust Avenue Fire House, which was scheduled to reopen in May, sustained $300,000 in damage, including the loss of its new furnace. The estimated cost for repaving Elm Place and Locust Avenue is $100,000.

The mayor said two different engineering groups were giving the City estimates this week for infrastructure repair. “It's a big number.”

Police Commissioner William Connors said that state and federal inspectors from the public assistance liaison team had started doing assessments April 18. “I don't know the exact number of affected residents but I know that it is higher than it was as a result of the last storm.”

State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer called Governor Pataki at home the night of April 15 to report the significant damage. Governor Pataki and his Deputy Secretary for Public Safety and Emergency Management, Mike Balboni, came to Mamaroneck the next day and met with Senator Oppenheimer, Mayor Otis and County Legislator Judy Myers, among others.

“Armed with early numbers from Paul Shew regarding the possible costs of the repairs we will need to make, I was able to detail our needs directly to these officials,” said Mayor Otis. “I have also called Congresswoman Nita Lowey's office and spoken to the head of her Westchester office regarding our growing needs.

We will need to follow-up on all fronts to gain the assistance we need and minimize the local cost borne. We will also need to continue to seek help for the mitigation issues we have discussed at a Flood meeting April 10 and at City Council meetings.”

At press time, a municipal Command Center was still in operation in front of the Village Green, along with an information center on electrical service from Con Edison. A Command Center for gas operations is located behind City Hall, and dry ice is being supplied during daytime hours to residents.

The looming question remains: What can and will the City do about flood mitigation once the immediate emergencies are under control?

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