Winter Flooding Déjà Vu

By Katie McFadden

Winter flooding seems to be more common than snow nowadays. While Monday night brought a few flurries, breaking the nearly two-year long streak of not seeing more than an inch of snow, a storm from Friday night into Saturday brought as much as two feet of flooding in many parts of the peninsula, again.

Coastal flooding alerts were issued Friday ahead of the storm that brought rains and strong winds on a new moon night. By the time the morning high tide came on Saturday, January 13, it brought with it flooding from Broad Channel to many parts of the peninsula. On Saturday morning, Broad Channel residents were getting around some streets by kayak. Newport Avenue in the Beach 120s and 130s turned into a river. FDNY once again responded to help folks from flooded vehicles on Beach 84th Street. The Almeda Club at 69-62 Almeda Avenue was once again flooded, but was able to clean up a few hours later once the waters receded, after becoming more resilient since last winter’s heavy floods. People used milk crates to step into stores around the Beach 80s and Rockaway Beach Blvd., while others simply traversed the waters to get to stores in the Beach 50s. Meanwhile, the new Garden by the Bay on Beach 43rd Street in Edgemere is now trying to figure out how to move forward after the land was completely submerged.

Heavy flooding in December 2022 brought about a packed town hall led by Senator James Sanders in January 2023 to discuss possible solutions to the ongoing flooding issues, but Saturday indicated that nothing has changed.

After Saturday’s flooding, Councilwoman Joann Ariola advised anyone who experienced flood damage, to report it to 311, although doing so does not guarantee any assistance. “The 311 reports are to try to kick in state or federal funding. This is to gather data to try to reach the threshold for financial help from the state or FEMA to kick in,” she told constituents on social media.

Photos by Marek Piechocki, Theresa Racine and Edwin Williams.