Dear Editor,
I am very concerned that the proposed raising of the lower portion of Halsey Valley road in Tioga Center will exacerbate the flooding issues for everyone who suffered damage from the extreme storms in 2006 and 2011. I also believe it will significantly worsen even the “normal” spring flooding associated with river valley communities.
I have attended two meetings where we have been told what our options are. There are five. They all involve bringing in massive amounts of fill into a recently re-claimed flood plain, where a portion of our town was demolished, after the flood of 2011. The road will be elevated significantly, up to 13 feet, in places.
No guardrails are planned, so the sides will be “sloped.” This will require even more fill to be brought in, which will further reduce the capacity of the field to hold and store water. This is called “displacement.” When concerns about increased risk of flooding, due to “displacement,” have been raised, we have been assured that this action will have only an “insignificant” impact on us. The chance of a flood like 2011 will be only “slightly” greater, or “hardly” noticeable. Really? I am “speechless.” How do you respond to that?
This “cavalier” attitude toward the devastation many suffered is both extremely offensive and sad at the same time. Yes, most of those who lost everything did survive, but I doubt seriously any of us, who did not leave, are looking for the opportunity to go through it again.
Note: Two residents who suffered great loss did die within a year or so of the flood and I understand that grief and stress caused by the flood were factors in their passing, and I can certainly understand. Something I cannot understand concerns the number of vacant houses we have on Main Street. I would have thought, to have them occupied and be part of a viable neighborhood, once again, would be a priority, but evidently not.
Of course, I also thought the 1.3 million dollars would go to actually reduce the chance of severe flooding. I understand that the state or federal government rejected priority projects #1, 2 and 3, and approved #4 (raise the road) and #5 (new road salt shed). The salt shed is definitely a worthwhile project for both environmental and fiscal reasons. For 1.3 million you could build a salt shed that would be the envy of every highway department anywhere. It could serve as a tourist attraction as well as a storage facility and you could build a kitchen and sleeping quarters upstairs for use during times of severe storms.
The road project is a real bone of contention, however. I understand the board wants access to 17C east, and that during the flood of 2011 that wasn’t possible due to the depth of water thru the main part of town and this section of road.
However, since my family moved here in 1950, I don’t believe we even had water on Main Street until Agnes in 1973. Since then we have, several times, but not enough to keep an emergency vehicle from heading east out of town. The flooding in 2011 was the exception. Otherwise you could always access 17C by way of Allyn Road and 5th Avenue.
Going west was different. After Agnes, this section of the road flooded more easily. Since the flood of 2006, however, the extension of Allyn Road made it possible to get to 17C west of town. This doesn’t mean you could necessarily go very far, but, you could get out of town.
During the flood of 2011, approximately 75 homes within a mile or two of the fire station could not be reached by our emergency vehicles. If a flood of those proportions struck again it might be possible to reach 22 homes, on or near Devil’s Elbow, using the proposed road project to access 17C, but that’s it.
Following the flood, 16 houses in town were torn down (five were replaced), leaving 42 of the 75 still unable to be accessed by fire trucks or ambulance. Some of these homes are within a few hundred yards of the station.
Clearly, to me at least, this road project will cause more harm than good. With the same scenario as 2011, every house that was flooded will be again, to a greater extent, and those that almost were, quite likely, will be, and not just in our community, but many others up and down the river as well. (With this likelihood in mind, you might ask why are we pursuing this project).
Somehow, we need to understand that every little” insignificant” action adds up to some very “significant” consequences, good or bad depending. I can’t believe there are not other options to be explored in order to insure more complete emergency coverage in time of disasters. I would think getting more people involved in the process would make for more thinking outside the box as to what might be possible.
Here’s a thought. How about using some of the “road” money to purchase additional emergency equipment and build an auxiliary fire station east of town somewhere on higher ground, like the old restaurant property. If the majority of the money was intended to improve emergency service coverage to the eastern portion of the town, then, this should help do that. While this would do nothing pro-active to deal with flood issues, it wouldn’t exacerbate them and I believe we could count that as a win for everyone.
Hopefully, before to much longer, New Yorker’s will face up to the fact we need to stop allowing the foolish and destructive practices that contribute “significantly” to our flooding problems. Until we do, however, there will always be the potential for the “big one” that will “destroy” our hopes and our best-laid plans. You can almost guarantee it.
Ultimately, the goal should be earmarking sufficient money to deal with the flooding issues on private land in the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River Watershed. Senator Akshar is new, but Assemblywoman Lupardo, former Senator Libous, and their fellow representatives were all “gung ho” to tackle these issues in the months following Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. I remember I got excited reading about it. What happened to “stiffle” the enthusiasm? (The Press & Sun Bulletin asked a similar question in an Editorial a few months ago. If there was a response, I never saw it.)
Flooding on this scale is an immense problem and fixing it will be a massive undertaking. We are talking five rivers – the Susquehanna, Unadilla, Otselic, Tioughnioga and Chenango draining thousands and thousands of acres by the time they reach Binghamton. The U.S. Soil and Water Conservation Districts are here, ready to provide technical assistance, but need help. They need funding and permission to use those funds, where needed, on private land.
If Albany can be persuaded that the flooding issues we face are as serious as they are, and then pass the legislation needed to address them, then we can begin setting things in order. It would be helpful if attention could be focused on some of the causes of our flooding issues. F.E.M.A. recently revealed that a major factor of flooding in Towanda, Pa. is the use of so much non-permeable material used on roads, parking lots etc. and the alterations to flood plains, upstream in the Susquehanna River Water shed. They said, “The river can not hold all the extra water.” Amen.
To this I would add wetlands, and cattail marshes filled in and black topped for the purpose of development. I can’t believe there aren’t laws against this practice. For years these “insignificant” acts against the environment have brought suffering to many. Broken hearts and dreams and tons of debt caused by an accumulation of actions deemed “insignificant” by some.
People thinking only of themselves or simply not caring about the consequences of their actions on others are the guilty ones. Just like a crime scene, we have the victims and the perpetrators. For far too long the “environmental” perpetrators in New York have gotten away with wrecking havoc on their victims and it is time to hold them accountable for their actions. Actually, it’s way past time.
Note: For some insight into what “displacement” means and the importance of flood plains, you can Google floodplain rules Winnetka, Illinois. Bear in mind this is on a very small scale, but the principals are the same and it demonstrates how seriously they take this to heart.
Sincerely,
Doug Graves
Tioga Center, N.Y.
