More Severe Storms, Damaging Hurricanes: NYC DEP Wants Homeowners To Know What To Do To Prevent Flooding

NYC DEP Provided Helpful Information About Increasing Storm Resilience and Hurricane Preparation For Homeowners In Recent Roundtable

In a recent presentation for media partners, the NYC DEP detailed steps that homeowners can take, including items to purchase and changes to make to their property, in order to increase their storm resilience.

The first important point is that New York City has been changed to a tropical type of zone. (**) This means that we have more frequent, more heavy storms than in the past. This may be due to climate change, or it could be due to other factors. However, it is still a reality. No one can deny that the storms are much more dramatic and devastating than they ever were in our lifetimes. Hurricane Helene and the one that followed have left extreme destruction in their wake.

Another important point to mention is that there is a reason why the sewer and storm drains back up when some of these storms hit. The sewer systems were designed to divert between 1.5 and 1.75 inches of rain per hour. In most of the recent storms, including the tail end of Hurricane Helene which Staten Islanders didn’t notice, the rainfall occurs between 2.5 and 3.5 inches per hour. This is why the system is overwhelmed.

The graphics in the presentation do an excellent job of explaining why sewers back up, although the biggest part of it is overwhelmed capacity and homes that are below ground level.

It is not a simple matter or fixing the system either. Since it works as designed, the entire sustem would have to be overhauled. This is extremely expensive, and wil take many years to complete. In the meantime, there are things that the city is doing, and there are things that homeowners can do.

Some of these include rain gardens, where the rainfall is absorbed by a nice looking garden that serves multiple functions. In certain areas of Brooklyn and Queens where there is sandy soil under the pavement, they are installing a new kind of street pavement that draws the water down so that it can go into the ground underneath.

However, as far as homeowner advice, advance preparation is key. Invest in rain barrels to attach to the gutters on your home and take some of the water out of the sewer system. Purchase a sump pump for basement apartments. Invest in a flood monitor for any basement apartment where people sleep, in order to alert them to the start of a flood so that they can get out in time.

Smaller practical measures include toilet plugs and bath plugs in sewer backups have been an issue. Sandbags that can be filled with water instead of sand provide a much more portable water barrier device that people can use to block water from entering their home if their doors are below street level.

The full presentation as a pdf can be found at this page, and provides a lot of useful information. The DEP Commissioner also answered questions in the video above.

One very important and critical issue remains the new trend taking over Staten Island neighborhoods, where residents are replacing their lawns and gardens with pavers, concrete, and other non-porous, non-absorptive materials. This is the opposite of increased flood resilience. In fact, it is causing such residents to dump the water that comes onto their property onto their neighbor’s property or even onto their own property. This makes it more likely for them to then experience flooding, even if they have never had such a problem before. Homeowners should think before they do these renovations. They may want to reconsider, especially if their area has any issues with flooding. The next storm could do serious damage when there is nowhere for the water to go but into their house and their pipes. We will cover this in more detail at a later time.

Homeowners concerned about flooding should take all necessary precautions to prevent and mitigate future occurrences.

View the presentation below to learn more, and watch the video above to get even more detailed information.  

Banner Image: Video cover. Image Credit – NYC DEP 

Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer

This byline indicates that this article was penned by a member/members of the Staten Islander News Organization office team. Our staff writers are the backbone of our newspaper, performing all sorts of important tasks like conducting interviews, investigating leads, besides writing the news stories you see.

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