Tenney calls for state, federal flood relief for Herkimer County

July 07--HERKIMER -- Mike Hart said he was out of town Saturday when his backyard essentially was turned into a lake by floodwater.

He said he later learned about how it happened: His Church Street property is adjacent to a creek that overflowed after an uprooted tree from further upstream dammed the underbelly of a nearby bridge.

As a result, water turned his backyard landscaping into a mud pit, lodged debris beneath a car in his driveway and sent garage and yard items -- such as lawn furniture and his 11-year-old's lemonade stand -- down the creek. And though only less than a foot of water got into his basement, Hart said his hot water tank was fried.

Hart's home was one of many U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, said she has surveyed throughout the Mohawk Valley in the days since Saturday's floods. Tenney continued in Herkimer County where she toured several affected homes.

In a news conference in Hart's driveway, Tenney called on state and federal agencies to aid local governments in Herkimer County to help address the flooding issues "once and for all."

"We're going to advocate as hard as we can to make sure we get the support we need because the local governments simply do not have the resources to handle this problem on their own," she said.

Similar advocacy efforts have been made by other elected officials. Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, who is challenging Tenney in her seat for Congress, said in a statement that he sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asking the governor to request a major damage declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Mohawk Valley and Central New York.

Tenney, R-New Hartford, also sent a letter to Cuomo with a request for a federal disaster declaration. She was joined by several Herkimer County officials and community members.

"We're just here to try to solve the problem for the community," Herkimer County Legislator Robert Schrader, District 3, said. "Herkimer County is a historical county. We just want to continue to bring the awareness of the problem with the flooding and get it corrected altogether."

Hart, who will meet with a flood insurance adjuster to assess the damage and will later go through the process of sanitizing his basement, said he would have liked to see more done from the previous flooding events from several years ago.

"I'd like to see (Tenney) put some bang in her buck and show me the money. Do something positive," he said. "When (politicians) come down here and they all show their faces, show me something for it. Either pick up a shovel and move the dirt or pick up a pen and write the grant."

Follow @OD_Mason on Twitter or call him at 315-792-5074.

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