Queens Pols Want Federal Funds To Fix Infrastructure After Floods

QUEENS, NY — Tuesday’s flash floods were so powerful that power was knocked out in Whitestone, Corona, Ozone Park and Bayside, according to a Con Edison outages map.

While Whitestone and Bayside had partial outages, which the utility is continuing to evaluate, power won’t be restored in parts of Ozone Park and Corona, until Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. and noon, respectively, based on data from the interactive map.

Hours after the storm, Forest Hills state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. announced that he will team up with the city Office of Emergency Management to provide resources via workshops and webinars to help New Yorkers to prepare for the next Hurricane Sandy-like superstorm.

In the event of a flash flood warning affecting your immediate area, New Yorkers should take several factors into consideration including location and current weather conditions, the OEM told Patch. Individuals should never enter a basement that is flooded.

Wireless Emergency Alerts are used prior to a potentially catastrophic event, in which case individuals should follow the actions outlined in the Wireless Emergency Alert first and foremost. The OEM encourages New Yorkers in basement apartments to have an emergency plan that includes access to higher ground during potential flooding given the unpredictability of flash floods.

Forest Hills electeds U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi and Councilwoman Lynn Schulman said in a joint statement that they were working with city and state agencies to repair homes that were damaged by the flooding in the borough.

“Once again, Queens is forced to endure flooding as a result of heavy rainfall, just nearly two weeks after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida devastating our borough,” said the elected officials. “Many constituents who were working toward rebuilding their lives now face additional setbacks, and many who were not impacted by Ida must now deal with the damage caused to their properties.

“As we deal with the impacts of climate change, the threat of future floods will continue, which is why we need immediate action.”

The politicians want the city and state to use money from the federal infrastructure bill that was signed into law last year to upgrade outdated sewers and catch basins in the communities that need it the most.

Two aspects of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was climate change mitigation and resilient infrastructure.

“Queens residents cannot continue rebuilding from one disaster to the next, only to wonder how much rain may fall,” the officials added. “An immediate investment of infrastructure funding for needed upgrades will help save lives, and spare millions of people the economic burdens they face. This is the right thing to do, and it must be done.”