Residents Say Ramapo Bound To Flood Again

For many Mahwah residents, a “hundred year” flooding situation has happened all too often over the past few years. With four separate flooding incidents last year, with the most devastating happening during and after in August, those in West Mahwah are concerned that it’s only a matter of time before the Ramapo River overflows into their homes and neighborhoods again.

“I am very worried about the Ramapo flooding again,” Bernice Frank, a senior citizen living in West Mahwah, told Patch. “What some of my neighbors went through was unimaginable, and I can’t help but look at the condition of the [Ramapo] River and know that it is going to flood again.”

For Frank, the lower water level the Ramapo is exhibiting lately and the mild winter weather provides a false sense of security that she feels will be washed away during the first few rain events of 2012. “At this point, we really just want to be high and dry, and we need help to do that. Someone needs to address the flooding problem here.”

According to both local and state officials, more attention will be paid to correcting Ramapo River flooding in Mahwah.

A bill first introduced in 2010 that elected officials say will help the region address flooding issues is making its way through the state legislature. The state’s General Assembly approved the bill, which would create an 18-member Rockland-Bergen Bistate River Commission, last week. According to a release from the Assembly Republicans who sponsored the bill, the Commission would “develop a coordinated flood management and prevention plan between the neighboring New Jersey and New York counties.”

On a more local level, officials say a meeting next week will nudge New Jersey to do more to make sure that Mahwah’s flood-prone areas receive assistance to correct the current problem.

Next week, is hosting a meeting of township emergency management coordinators and government officials from nearby towns. According to Mayor Bill Laforet, the goal of the 'Township of Mahwah River Flood Conference' is to come up with a joint statement that can “call upon the governors of New Jersey and New York and our states’ legislators to commit to doing something to fix this problem.”

The group will also try to “[reenergize] the flood projects proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers which have gone dormant over the last several years,” that were aimed at alleviating flooding issues along the Ramapo.

Expected to attend next week’s conference are Laforet, Directors of Mahwah OEM Ray Roe and Chris Howard, the mayors of Oakland, Hillburn, Tuxedo, Sloatsburg, Suffern, Mahwah Twp. engineer Mike Kelly, and community representatives from Deerhaven, Polo Grounds and the Ramapo River Conference.

“Priority needs to be placed on people’s lives,” Laforet said. He called the flooding along the Ramapo a “devastating problem,” especially considering that several homes in the township flooded as many as four times in 2011.

For Frank, whose home was not affected by Hurricane Irene, relief to her community is no longer a choice. “The river has to be cleaned up or it’s just going to happen again,” she said. “We need help.”