Summer Storm Damages Area

( Edited August 6, 2002) A violent summer storm cracked massive tree limbs, cut-off power to a number of homes throughout the area, and sent floodwaters into low-lying neighborhoods on Friday, August 2.

By Saturday morning, Village crews and contractors were out cleaning streets and tending to damaged trees. However, on Monday, many homeowners were still mopping out basements and garages, throwing out their ruined possessions, and discussing compensation with insurance agents.

It was almost as bad as December 11, 1993, the “Storm of the century,” declared one Pine Brook resident. This time, “to reach home, we had to walk through the dark in water up to our thighs. We were screaming; it was stinking. It was really disgusting.”

Neighbors are used to some flooding, particularly when storms coincide with high tide as the Friday storm did. However, in past storms, the flood waters have receded with the tide. In this case, neighbors reported, the flooding remained for a number of hours.

“The worst we’ve seen in 20 years,” stated a neighbor on Mayhew. For the first time in his memory, storm water blocked Mayhew from the Post Road to Pine Brook. His back yard and garage were completely flooded, however, no water entered the basement. Since the Village recoated the sewers under his home a few years ago, his basement has remained dry.

The Pine Brook neighbors were not so lucky. “Our house had no chance. There was three feet of water in the basement. The sump pumps couldn’t do their job because the water level was higher outside than in.” At the height of the storm, the homeowner watched water come pouring out of the storm drains and into the street. At one point water seeped out of the sewer manhole. According to this resident, the house was flooded with both sewage and flood water. Professional cleaners were removing water-soaked items, and sanitizing the basement.

“We have to get more work done on this,” said Village Trustee Mike Wiener who has been collaborating with Village Engineer Joe Morgan on the Pine Brook flooding issue. “I don’t think anyone has been asleep at the switch on this – in any administration.” In his view, the flooding problem is complex and multi-faceted. The Village has tried a number of approaches, each of which has had some success. “After each improvement, you have to assess the impact and find the next step.”

At the beginning of the year, work on the sanitary sewers cleared a large occlusion between Pine Brook Road and the New Rochelle Treatment Plan. According to Wiener, the flooding did not appear to be coming from the sanitary sewers this time. Among the possible culprits he has been investigating is New Rochelle’s Beechmont Lake.

Wiener and Morgan have been working with New Rochelle to make repairs to the water system at Beechmont Lake. “Our thought is, you follow what we do with our reservoir. Before a large storm, we take some water out of the reservoir so it can act like a capacitor.” Some of the floodwaters can be held by the Larchmont Reservoir rather than rushing into streets and basements. Because the necessary valves are not functioning at Beechmont, storm water from New Rochelle races downstream and into the Pine Brook area. Wiener hopes the valves will be repaired by this Fall.

So-called “illegal hookups” may be another cause of Friday’s flooding. For years, the Town and Village governments have been working on the problem of illegal deposits of storm water into the sanitary sewers. In the distant past, homeowners were allowed to drain basements but not gutters into the sewers. Today neither sump pumps nor gutters may lead directly to the sanitary sewers, yet many homes still have such improper connections. In a storm, so much rainwater enters the sanitary sewers from these sources that untreated sewage floods out onto streets or into the Sound. Rooting out the remaining illegal hookups might help mitigate the flooding.

Clearly the flooding problem is perennial and often severe. No one is expecting a speedy solution, though residents with flooded yards, garages or basements are seeking relief. At Monday night's Village Board meeting, Pine Brook Drive residents from two of the most impacted homes appealed to the Board for assistance. Village Attorney Jim Staudt advised that the Board had no authority to provide monetary support as requested by one resident facing increasing insurance premiums, but the Board will continue to look into the long-running problems.

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