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Long recovery underway after deadly and destructive floods ravage Connecticut, New York

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2 months ago

August 20, 2024

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Long recovery underway after deadly and destructive floods ravage Connecticut, New York

After torrential rain led to deadly and destructive flooding across parts of Connecticut and New York, officials on Tuesday continued assessing the damage from the unexpected surge in water that took the lives of at least two people, collapsed homes and ravaged entire towns.

Between Saturday night and Monday morning, parts of southwest Connecticut received over a foot of rain while parts of Long Island got just over 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service office in Uptown, New York. In several areas, multiple inches fell within a few hours, causing flash floods that quickly transformed roads into powerful rivers that trapped people in their homes and cars.

“We are talking about rainfall in some areas in the 1,000-year level,” Brenda Bergeron, deputy commissioner at the state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said at a news conference on Monday, describing the deluge as “historic, unprecedented flooding.”

Dozens of people were evacuated and rescued from their homes across several towns and municipalities, however, the worst impacts were in the town of Oxford, Connecticut, where two women were swept away by the rushing floodwaters as crews were attempting to rescue them. Their bodies were recovered on Monday.

George Temple, first selectman of the town of Oxford, said at a news conference on Monday that roads were “caved in and thrown apart” and the floods left businesses “severely damaged” and cars “totally wrecked.”

“Oxford got sucker-punched yesterday and then taken out at the knees,” said Connecticut state Sen. Eric Berthel at a news conference. “Our infrastructure is broken, our main highway that runs through this town is broken, we have loss of life, we have loss of businesses.”

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Dozens across the town were evacuated, including 30 people who were rescued from Jackson Cove, a beloved local park where there was a birthday party being held for a 2-year-old child. Emergency crews evacuated the group, which included a 5-month-old infant, by boat late Sunday night.

Connecticut State Sen. Richard Blumenthal said at a news conference that the towns of Seymour, Newtown and Danbury also incurred major damage he described as “heartbreaking and gut-churning.” Most of the towns, including Oxford, are located near the Little River, which bulged several feet above its flood stage and rushed downstream.

“Who would have thought the Little River would turn into a gushing torrent of destruction?” he said.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday declared a state of emergency to expedite the recovery efforts in communities upended by the floods. Several local and state officials, including lawmakers, implored the federal government to step in and assist financially.

Road closures were still prevalent throughout southwest Connecticut early Tuesday morning, according to the state’s department of transportation website. In Southbury, officials said on Facebook that at least nine roads will remain partially closed due to damage and that all the town parks will stay closed.

Rains cause catastrophic flooding in Long Island

In New York’s Suffolk County, where up to 10 inches fell over the weekend, major flooding tore apart roads, pushed a dam and bridge to failure, triggered water rescues and flooded areas of Stony Brook University.

The floods completely pushed all the water out of Brookhaven’s Mill Pond and collapsed a major road beside it, leaving much of the scenic area in ruin. Dan Panico, town supervisor of Brookhaven, said the last time the Mill Pond washed out was “over 100 years ago.” Its millions of gallons of water, along with turtles, fish and the belongings of several flooded homes flowed downstream, worsening flooding elsewhere.

“It is a road and rehabilitation project that is going to coast upwards of $10 million dollars,” Panico said.

The north shore of Brookhaven was “ravaged,” according to Panico, who described homes falling into sinkholes and a condemned bed-and-breakfast.

In nearby Blydenburgh County, a 100-acre lake in Smithtown’s Blydenburgh County Park drained after a concrete bridge and dam collapsed, according to Ed Romaine, Suffolk County executive. The deluge impacted homes, businesses and schools downstream and interrupted Long Island Railroad trains.

Meanwhile, several areas of Stonybrook University’s campus were flooded, causing the public school to cancel student move-in plans on Monday and Tuesday as the damage was being assessed, the university said in a statement on X.

“This is a major catastrophe which was not expected,” said Romaine, who signed a disaster declaration and called on the state and federal government to assist. He put damage estimates for the entire county at over $50 million.