Flooding nothing new to South Shore residents

Flooding nothing new to South Shore

My heart goes out to everyone whose homes and businesses were flooded during the recent rainstorm [“Extreme weather takes a big toll,” Editorial, Aug. 25]. As someone who has been living with flooding issues for more than 40 years, I can tell you that, unfortunately, these people will forever be affected by this. Every time there is a threatening forecast, they will be stressed.

Suffolk County’s North Shore, unlike the South Shore, is getting plenty of attention. Then again, we on the South Shore are only a small group of taxpayers affected not by any creek or body of water but by poorly designed village stormwater management on our streets. I guess we didn’t warrant the same coverage.

Oh, last September, my basement filled with more than 4 feet of water.

 — Rich Gosline, Farmingdale

My house flooded during Superstorm Sandy, and FEMA / NY Rising helped my home be elevated. Before the storm, I was paying $5,000 a year for flood insurance. After the elevation, my annual insurance premium dropped to $500 and has risen $100 yearly since then.

I just received my flood insurance renewal. It said if I pay late, my premium will go back up to the original $5,000 annual rate, and the notice was received two months early. I think, however, that the renewal arriving so early increases the chances of a homeowner putting it aside and forgetting to pay on time.

During Sandy, everyone got the same government money, regardless if they had flood insurance. If FEMA needs more money, maybe provide interest-free loans for some non-essential repairs and give needed money to the uninsured.

 — Gary Maksym , Massapequa

Everyone talks about the weather, but all we do is throw money at the devastation it leaves behind. We have two opposing forces, those who understand that climate change is real, and those who deny it’s a reality and tell us that the weather will return to normal soon.

The warning signs for climate change have been around for 50 years, and yet we only make incremental progress at controlling it. In time, the climate will cost us real money out of our pockets; crops will be harder to grow, and the price of food will increase.

Climate change is truly an existential threat.

 — Bill Olson, Westhampton

LI ‘war on trees’ is not isolated to single area

I was very excited to see I wasn’t the only person disturbed by the “war on trees” [“A cease-fire announced in town’s ‘war on trees,’  ” Musings, Aug. 19].

Recently, the Westbury School District expanded its parking lots and took down six old oaks and at least one old pine. They were simply in the way. To address the water that these trees absorbed, six huge dry wells had to be installed. But the lot flooded anyway.

A few years ago, the Westbury mayor had oak trees removed along Ellison Avenue despite protests — one resident chained herself to the tree in front of her house. This was done in the name of improving drainage, new curbs and road repaving. Mind you, the road wasn’t widened, and the curbs remained in the same place.

Alas, rain came and the road flooded — oh gosh, who would have thought! Giant hundreds-of-years-old oaks were replaced with wimpy landscaping “trees,” and most have not survived.

It’s time to push back against utilities and paving companies destroying our towns. Even New York City is trying to plant green spaces, while here on Long Island, we don’t seem to be doing much of that.
And this doesn’t take into account the habitat trees create for wildlife.

 — Debra Hesse, Westbury

The “war on trees” has been happening in many communities over time, especially after PSEG Long Island cuttings. Over a year ago, I went to Village of Hempstead board meetings to note there has been a substantial uptick in cuttings of mature trees both on the curbside and residential properties.

Many towns and villages have routinely cut down large mature oak and maple trees on curbsides merely to slightly fix a sidewalk or curb. This substantially harms both the environmental and economic aspects of neighborhoods.

In many cases, the municipality will plant something new — a variety of small trees, often cherry trees, which adds little to either the environment or economics of the neighborhood. They also often plant one variety of tree, which means any single pest or disease will soon destroy entire sections of trees.

Although I have routinely brought this up to the Hempstead Village board, I have had the same results that the Musings writer had — essentially a shrug and a lecture about how the larger trees lift sidewalks and damage curbs.

— Joseph Ruffini, Hempstead