Residents in Oneida, Herkimer counties continue flood recovery

UTICA -- After a weekend recovering from devastating floods spawned by a Halloween storm, communities in the Mohawk Valley region still were getting back on their feet Monday.

The damage is from a Halloween storm that pounded the area with 4 to 6 inches of rain, causing flash flooding and numerous evacuations throughout the Mohawk Valley.

Streets and parking lots still were covered in silt from overflowing creeks in Whitesboro, where residents piled up damaged home goods and other debris on the streets for cleanup. Red Cross volunteers were spotted in residential neighborhoods where floodwaters were high on Friday.

In Utica, city resources were putting on a full-court press, said Mayor Robert Palmieri. City Department of Public Works employees were removing mud while officials worked with residents affected by the flood.

"I think the city has done a remarkable job within DPW to deal with the debris but there's still work to be done," Palmieri said.

Some equipment, such as computers, at the city's DPW building on Wurz Avenue was damaged by the floodwaters, Palmieri said.

In areas of South Utica hit particularly hard by the flooding, city workers will distribute informational literature about flood recovery resources on Tuesday for those who haven't been able to follow updates on the news or social media, Palmieri said. The same information will be distributed in parts of North Utica on Wednesday.

Included will be a mention of the $1 million in flood assistance pledged by Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. on Saturday. The available funds include $500,000 to help homeowners and businesses repair damaged furnaces, hot water tanks and other essential equipment. The remaining $500,000 is earmarked as matching funds for local municipalities for their cleanup efforts.

Four emergency service centers opened around Oneida County on Monday for flood victims to apply for the county funds. The four locations were the Whitesboro Fire Department, West Canada Creek Estates in Deerfield, Willowvale Fire Department in Chadwicks and the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties in Utica.

All four centers are expected to remain open through the rest of the week, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Picente said. A couple hundred people came to the service centers today, he said, but the centers will remain open, especially for residents with other obligations, such as work, who weren't able to stop in today.

On Monday, Picente joined with state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, and Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, D-Marcy, to send a letter calling for additional assistance from the federal government. The letter also requested the state provide additional financial aid for those impacted by the storm and subsequent flooding.

"We believe that further assistance from the state and federal government would help to alleviate the significant flooding concerns and challenges shared by many homeowners, businesses, local governments and others over the last several years," the letter said.

In addition to funding, county public works crews were active clearing debris clogging creeks and other waterways.

"We're continuing to do clean up where we're needed," Picente said.

The damage from the storm and flooding were more intense and widespread than from other recent storms, Picente said. Whitesboro is at the top of the list of impacted areas, he said, while also mentioning Deerfield and Chadwicks.

There were no reported road closures on state roads in Oneida County on Monday, though a few select roads in Hamilton and Herkimer counties were still affected, according to the state Department of Transportation.

HERKIMER COUNTY

Roger Hensley and his Kanata Street neighbors weren't at work Monday like they normally would be.

Instead, the Middleville residents were spending another day removing mud and water from their homes, sorting out what's damaged and what's missing, making phone calls to insurance companies and wondering what kind of assistance they are going to receive to recover from what has been one of the worst flooding events the Mohawk Valley has seen in several years.

"Want to see my swimming pool?" he asked.

He was only half-joking. In a space that could fit the size of about two pickup trucks was an 8-foot hole in the ground filled with water. Hensley said that used to be the driveway that he just had placed with crusher run. All of the stones have been washed down the street.

Over the past few days, Hensley has discovered other belongings washed down the street, washed away in the Thursday night and Friday morning flooding, including two propane tanks and kayaks, one of which was discovered down the West Canada Creek at one of the launching sites.

Hensley, a high school security officer, said he and his wife Joyce "evacuated ourselves" Thursday night when the water started rising. He said within 20 minutes, the water came from the creek bed up onto their property and the street and was soon knee high.

Hensley pointed out Monday all the damage in just his backyard, including a camper that had been directly behind his house that is now located dozens of yards away.

"Until we start going through things, we don't have a clue what we lost," he said.

Hensley said it's been frustrating that some agencies haven't been able to assist them.

"It's like we're forgotten about," he said.

Several communities were hit hard by the weather event including Newport -- where state Route 28 through the village remained closed Monday -- and in Dolgeville, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited early Friday morning in the wake of the storm.

Dolgeville Village Trustee Amber Kraszewski lives on North Main Street, outside of the flood zone, but does have rental property on the same street where her mother lives in one home and her daughter in another. She said she received a phone call from her daughter at 1:20 a.m. Friday that they were being evacuated.

"Within minutes ... it was a rush ... You could see water coming through within minutes," said Kraszewski. "It was so chaotic. We had no notice at all. Nothing."

On Monday, the 204th Engineer Battalion of the U. S. Army National Guard continued work on the embankment at the East Canada Creek, along North Main Street. An excavator was used to remove some of the debris to make way for soil and boulders that would be put in place to stabilize the embankment.

Kraszewski said the National Guard helped residents shovel mud from four basements Monday and that residents who weren't affected by the flooding have been putting out food for the National Guardsmen, neighbors and those who need it.

"They're cooking pulled pork and ziti. They're putting it outside for everyone who needs it," she said.

The West Canada Valley Central School District closed for a second day Monday due to extensive road damage throughout the community. In a post on the district's Facebook page, Superintendent D.J. Shepardson said the extensive road damage contributed to the decision to keep school closed.

Shepardson said the school wasn't damaged in the storm and that it is "ready for students to return."

In Dolgeville, school was in session Monday but not without rerouting some bus routes to get children to where they need to be safely.

"Most of our back roads have some type of damage to them," a post on the district's Facebook page states. "All bus stops should be ready 20 minutes early. All bus routes will be leaving early to compensate for slower traveling speeds and construction delays."

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