'Enough Is Enough,' Lawmakers Demand Flood Mitigation Project

MAMARONECK, NY — New York's highest elected officials at the federal, state and local levels converged on Mamaroneck to demand that a flood management project along the Sheldrake and Mamaroneck rivers be fast-tracked in the wake of Thursday's devastating floods.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen and widen the rivers, as well as constructing retaining walls and diversion culverts, is at issue. The plans which also call for the replacement of two bridges that restrict water flow were abruptly shelved last year by Trump administration officials shortly before leaving office.

Calling the move a "mendacious act by a president who didn't care," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was joined by Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, County Executive George Latimer and Mayor Tom Murphy to call for the project to be fast-tracked.

"There have been far too many times that Mamaroneck has been beaten and battered by storms only for federal bureaucracy and endless roadblocks leaving them out to dry," Schumer said at the emergency response center in Mamaroneck. "Tropical storm Ida was a bitter reminder that enough is enough — Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Army Corps need to move heaven and earth, get Mamaroneck the funding they need and make the village resilient from future storms."

Schumer said there had been more than 100 water rescues in the village in the past 24 hours as a result of flooding that was largely preventable. The Red Cross reports that 125 displaced residents sought refuge in its emergency shelter overnight.

The village's mayor said that a solution can't come too soon.

"The damage from this storm is unprecedented," Murphy said. "I've been through a few floods as an elected official in this community and I have never seen it this intense and this widespread. Now more than ever, it is essential to start construction of the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River Flood Risk Management Project. Lives depend on it."

Flooding from Ida in Mamaroneck was both widespread and devastating. (Jeff Edwards |Patch)

According to the Army Corps, prior to Ida, the largest floods of record resulted from the storms of October 1955, June 1972, September 1975 and April 2007. During the 2007 Nor'easter, nearly 40 percent of Mamaroneck residents required evacuation assistance, according to the officials. This storm ultimately resulted in the stalled flood mitigation plans favored by the Army Corps of Engineers.

"The damage we are seeing today is heartbreaking and devastating," Bowman said. "While we deal with the immediate impacts of Ida on residents of Mamaroneck, our priority is to prevent future disasters."

While New York's newly sworn-in governor threw her support behind the flood mitigation project, she also cautioned that changing weather patterns cannot be ignored. The state's chief executive said the destruction on display in Mamaroneck is becoming all too commonplace.

"The frequency of major storms has only increased since Hurricane Sandy and we need to protect our state while going on the offensive to fight the root cause — climate change," Hochul said.

SEE ALSO:

• Ida In the Hudson Valley: Town-by-Town Rainfall Totals
• S. Westchester Flood Crisis Stretches First Responders: Photos
  
• 'Significant Damage' As Mamaroneck Flooded By Ida
• UPDATE: Flood Victims Identified As Iona Professors