Federal, state funds pay for fixes
Neighbors armed with buckets and wheelbarrows helped clear water from Lisa Sabin’s basement and yard in Cold Spring after two July 2023 storms that caused severe flooding.
Her second bailout — state-funded repairs to her basement and the installation of a drainage system — took nearly a year longer.
She is among the Highlands residents and municipalities still recovering from the devastating rains that soaked the area on July 9 and 10, 2023, damaging lower floors and washing out roads, driveways and private bridges.
Within 12 days, the federal government issued a disaster declaration that allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to aid local governments in Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Rockland and four counties upstate or to the west.
Philipstown sustained damage to 11 of its dirt roads. Ten have been repaired, and the town is pursuing FEMA funding to upgrade a culvert at the north end of Old Manitou Road, according to the town’s Highway Department. Overall federal and state funding for repairs has totaled more than $147,000, according to the town.
Nelsonville recently received approval from FEMA to repair a 300-foot-long trench created when floodwaters poured down Healy Road, said Mayor Chris Winward. She said the village suffered $840,000 in damage to Healy and four streets: Bank, Pearl, Pine and Secor.
“For us, this was devastating,” she said. “To have this much damage to five of our eight roads, it’s a big deal” because of tight budgets.
Healy Road took the biggest hit, with an estimated $250,000 in damage, said Winward. Another $238,000 will be spent to add drainage and other preventative measures.
Related: Stormwater Challenges
FEMA funded repairs to Pearl and Secor streets and Winward expects the agency to authorize money for Bank and Pine soon. FEMA is covering 75 percent of the costs and New York State is contributing 12.5 percent. Nelsonville will pay $105,000 as its share, said Winward.
“Without federal and state assistance, we would have done a poor patch job and not be ready for the next storm, which is unfortunately going to be coming with climate change,” she said.
Because she was in New York City during the storm, Sabin asked a neighbor to check on her Parsonage Street house.
She received a picture of her basement washer and dryer submerged in 3 feet of water. Her insurance did not cover the damage to her home and lawn because, an adjuster told her, it was not considered a malfunction such as an overflowing toilet or sump pump.
A month after the storm, New York Homes and Community Renewal, a state housing agency, began taking applications for payouts from a $3 million Flood Assistance Program that the state established for homeowners in the counties covered by the federal disaster declaration.
Sabin said on Wednesday (July 24) that, after much paperwork, contractors had just this month completed the work, including installing a French drain and sump pump, rebuilding concrete blocks around the home’s bilco door and replacing damaged plumbing.
