Mamaroneck Finally Receiving Much-Needed Funds For Flood Mitigation Projects
MAMARONECK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's the kind of flood the village of Mamaroneck has been hoping for -- a flood of money.
Almost $90 million is finally in the federal budget to pay for flood mitigation projects.
Mayor Tom Murphy calls the confluence of the Mamaroneck River and the Sheldrake River "ground zero" for frequent Mamaroneck flooding, like the mess that devastated the village last September when 1,000 residents had to be rescued and 500 cars were trashed.
In a familiar routine, elected officials visited and promised help by pushing for funding to prevent future flooding.
The funding has been a long time coming, says CBS2's Tony Aiello, who first reported on it 14 years ago.
After flooding in 2007, Sen. Chuck Schumer told residents flood mitigation was a top priority, but he couldn't get Congress and the White House to agree until now.
"The Ida relief bill. We are very, very happy and very, very relieved. This community has been plagued by flooding," Murphy said.
The mayor says Schumer and the New York delegation finally secured $88 million to raise bridges, fix retaining walls, dredge and deepen the rivers, and build an overflow culvert to prevent flooding where the Sheldrake makes two 90-degree turns.
"Once the river reaches a certain stage, it will go through that culvert, it will bypass those two 90-degree turns, making for a more free-flowing river," assistant village manager Dan Sarnoff said.
Music store manager Josh Mandel says flooding reached 5 feet in September and left a mess in his shop.
His reaction to the funding?
"The proof is in the pudding. When it's done, I'll be much happier, yes," he said.
At least with funding, the ducks are in a row. The Army Corps of Engineers expects to begin work in 2023.
Millions of dollars in damage from the remnants of Ida convinced feds to improve the deal for Westchester taxpayers. Washington will pay 100% of the bill, up from 85% from an earlier plan.
