Long Island sends highway team to help with flood damage in upstate New York after massive rainfall
Workers survey a severely damaged road near Bear Mountain State Park following a night of heavy rain and flooding on Tuesday in Highland Falls, New York. The storm washed out roads and bridges throughout New York State stranding people in their homes and vehicles and killing one person. Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt
Long Island highway crews are helping to assess road damage and inspect bridges following massive flooding in the Hudson Valley this week from a deluge of rain.
A team of five bridge and damage inspectors left Hauppauge at 4 a.m. to arrive Tuesday morning in Poughkeepsie, said John Aziz, deputy emergency manager for the Department of Transportation Region 10 on Long Island.
“A significant weather event on any type of roadway and bridge infrastructure can be affected by rising water tables and water seeping into concrete, undermining roads and suspension bridges,” Aziz said. “I’ve seen what Mother Nature can do, but to see it as it happened, it’s always surprising to say the least."
The Long Island team was one of 23 bridge inspection teams from the state to help the Hudson Valley rebuild after the floods. The state is also sending 10 damage assessment teams to address the impact of the flooding on state and local roads.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also deployed New York City's Urban Search and Rescue team, New York Task Force 1, from Brooklyn to Berlin, Vermont, Monday night. The team includes 46 members of the FDNY and NYPD. The team is helping with evacuations and responding to 911 calls.
Aziz’s team of two bridge inspectors and two damage inspectors volunteered to assess flood damage through at least Friday. Other Long Island workers arrived Monday.
“The damage is fairly severe in the affected areas,” Aziz said. “There are concerns of bridge work and damage to infrastructure and our crews are working to repair those roadways.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul said some parts of the Hudson Valley received up to 9 inches of rain within a 24-hour period and she declared a state of emergency. The flooding washed out roads and bridges and killed one person.
"Our team continues to work around the clock to assist our local partners and assess damages in impacted counties,” New York Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray said in a statement late Monday.
The Long Island crews are helping other state workers fix roadways “being undermined” by water damage that also affected other bridge footings, Aziz said. They are also responding to support other emergency teams that have offered mutual aid on Long Island for incidents ranging from hurricanes to blizzards, Aziz said.
He said historic rainfall and massive storms are becoming more frequent on Long Island and throughout the state. “Calling these once-in-1,000-year storms are becoming more common over the years,” Aziz said. “Sandy was a long time ago and we’ve learned a lot since then. There are plans and policy in place to assist in any efforts to do any infrastructure maintenance.”
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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