UTICA — The volume of calls handled bythe Oneida County 911 Center was "off the charts" Saturday as flood waters washed over local roadways, stranding residents and damagingarea infrastructure.
Oneida County 911 andEmergency Services DirectorKevin Reveresaid the call center received 1,490 callsbetween 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. Overall,he said he could not recall a past instance of widespread flooding at the level that occurred Saturday, whenthe surge of watercaused significant damage to several areas.
The examples of that damage were numerous: On the Arterial, which was closed from Oriskany Street to Burrstone Road in Utica, cars were seen floating in several feet of water. In Kirkland, part of one road simply collapsed. And flooded basem*nts, car accidents andother flooding-related problemswere reported in multiple locations throughout the region.
"The last time I saw anything like this was during (winter storm) Stella. And Stella was an unprecedented event," Revere said. "This is right up there with it."
By 11:30 a.m. Saturday, up to 2 to 3 inches of rain had already fallen, according to the National Weather Service, prompting flash flood and thunderstorm warnings that remained in effect — along with more rainfall — for most of the day.
By 5:23 p.m., a reverse-911 alert was sent to residents along Sauquoit Creek from Whitesboro to Paris advising them to evacuate to a safe location. Even though the rain hadcleared,the effects of run-offstill posed a hazard.
Shortly thereafter, emergency crews were called to Brookline Drive and Richardson Avenuein South Utica to help evacuate residents trapped by the flood waters.A trailer park on Bleachery Place in Chadwicks alsowas evacuated to the Willowvale Fire Department, where residents were being helped by the Red Cross.Revere said he expected the residents to beback in their homes soon, however.
Here's a look at how some other areas were affected, and how officials responded:
Regional response
Oneida and Madison counties issued travel advisories Saturday urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel and to watch for road closures, damaged or flooded roads and debris. The City of Utica also declared a state of emergency that called for no unnecessary travel until further notice.
Oneida County lifted its travel advisory at around 8 p.m.County Executive Anthony Picente, who was out with the county's commissioner of public works to survey the damage, said he was disappointed to learn that some drivers ignored the road closure signs. He urged themto heed emergency vehicles in the future.
"It’s really one of those areas where wehave to be cautious," Picente said Saturday evening. "I'm waiting to see if another run (of storms) comes. When the waters do subside, we'll do another assessment of damages. Unfortunately, this is in many ways like the winter storm we saw in March. It came hard, fast and in large quantities. It’s really hard to control,so we have to continue to see what we can do.”
Revere said county and local responders worked "shoulder to shoulder" with state agencies to facilitate a coordinated response.
And U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney issued a statement saying her office is in contact with FEMA and local elected officials to provide aid.
"I am driving throughout the region to assist in identifying the worst damage and sending photos and video to first responders and others who can provide assistance to residents ...," Tenney said in the statement. "As soon as the rain stops and the water recedes, my office will continue to work with area leaders to make sure that federal assistance is provided through the appropriate disaster declarations. I’m grateful for the commitment of the first responders and all who are working to get this situation under control.”
City of Utica
The intersectionof Noyes Street and Lincoln Avenue was completely flooded as of late Saturday morning.
Noyes Street resident Roberta Roman watched the rain fall with her granddaughter, Layanna Niles, and other residents in her apartment, including Steve Williams. Their apartment has multiple entryways — while water climbed up their front porch, a side door was relatively free offlooding.
Others at the corners of the intersection, however, were surrounded, resulting in waterlogged treks. Roman said authorities had to help free at least two vehicles from the flood waters. Meanwhile, the flooding pushed out the manhole covers on the road, she said.
Roman said she also was concerned about her elderly neighbors.
"What the city plans to do about it? We would love to know," she said. "I would love to know because I don't like this at all."
Williams, who has lived on Noyes Street for about 16 years, said the flooding used to be a lot worse until the citydid some sewer work roughly five years ago on Lincoln Avenue.
"It relieved some. Now it doesn't come up to my door. But this is it every year," he said.
Utica police Chief Mark Williams also characterized the intersection of Noyes Street and Lincoln Avenue, along with Sunset Avenue, as an area that floods often. Along with that intersection and portions of the Arterial, city police also blocked off Pleasant Street, from Conkling Avenue to Oneida Street, and the area around Wurz and Leland avenues early in the day, he said.
Williams also said he called in at least fouror five extra officers Saturday to assist with road closures and rescuing people from cars stuck in flood waters.And the city police and fire departments and the Department of Public Works establisheda command post to coordinate their response.
"The only thing that concerns me is this band of 1 inch of rain coming in at around 5 o'clock," Williams said mid-afternoon. "I'm just hoping it's not worse than what they're calling for."
While the rain eventually cleared, police did have to close the bridge over Sauquoit Creek on Genesee Street due to "structural concerns" as the creek waters continued to rise.
Arterial flooding
Jim Piccola, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the unusual flooding on the Arterial had nothing to do with the new construction along that route.
Rather, Piccola said the Arterialfloodedbecausethe ground was saturated from four to six weeks of consistentrain showers.He said the storm water system "seems to be running fine," butwas simply overwhelmed.
"The capacity of what's coming off the city's system and everything draining down, it's just it doesn't have the capacity to handle this amount of water with the frequency and intensity of the downpours," Piccola said. He added, "I feel very confident in our system and what it's doing, but we have flooding all over the region."
In the meantime, DOT maintenance crews were out across the region to close down roads and work with local municipalities duringSaturday's response. Piccola said crews are alsoperiodically cleaning up debris between the downpours.
Herkimer County
Both the Village of Frankfortand the Village of Herkimer declared states of emergency late Saturday afternoon.
In Frankfort, village officials said Moyer Creek flooded, requiring residents in the immediate areato beevacuated. The creek, according to the clerk's office, flooded its banks and caused the closing of West Main Street, from Lock Street to Cemetery Street.
The village's Municipal Buildingalso will be closed Monday due towater damage from the recent storms, village officials announced Saturday.
In Herkimer, several creeks overflowed, spilling into streets and private residences, officials said.
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FOR YOUR INFORMATION
* The city of Utica remained under a state of emergency as of Saturday night.
* The state Department of Transportation is asking drivers to avoid flooded roadways and find alternative routes.
* Utica residents whosee adislodged manhole cover are asked to call the Utica Police Department's squad commander's office at 315-223-3461.
LOOKING AHEAD
WUTR Chief Meteorologist Rachael Witter, speaking Saturday afternoon, estimated that Utica got anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain Saturday. That plus the 1 to 2 inches the city received Friday night contributed to the flooding.
"We were already kind of waterlogged," she said. "And put two to four more inches of rain on top of that, there's nowhere for the water to go."
She expected another 1 to 1.5 inches of rain at the most by the end of the night.
Sunday is expected to be partly sunny with a chance of showers in the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
