South Shore residents flunk city drain system

 

Saturday, July 01, 2006

By PETER N. SPENCER

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

If Thursday night's torrential downpour was a test of Staten Island's storm preparedness, then residents of the South Shore give the city a big fat "F."

A day after Mother Nature pelted the Island with more than 3 inches of rain in less than an hour -- inundating streets, flooding basements, ripping apart sheds and turning cars into river rafts -- residents of neighborhoods from Tottenville to Great Kills were trying to dry out and pick up the pieces.

And while they acknowledged the storm was unusually harsh, they also blamed city officials for inadequate drainage systems and bad planning, which has allowed development in their neighborhoods to run amok.

"I've lived here for 23 years, and we've never had this problem before. ... This whole area was like a lake," said Rensselaer Avenue resident Stephanie Schwartz, whose 40-foot deck was ripped off its foundation and thrown into her backyard pool by surging waters Thursday night.

Ms. Schwartz and other Annadale residents point fingers at a poorly designed drainage pipe installed underneath homes being built on Rathbun Avenue. A nearby Bluebelt stream once flowed onto the property, dumping storm water into the ground to recharge.

The pipe is not big enough, residents say, and once it is filled, water flows out into the street and into area homes.

Ms. Schwartz estimated a new deck would cost her at least $5,000. Compared to some other Annadale residents, she was rather lucky.

As the rain and hail beat against the windows of their basement apartment on Rathbun Avenue, E.J. and Maria Carroll watched the news nervously, wondering whether they should take their 1-year-old daughter, Brianna, to her grandparents' home for safety. Within minutes, water rushed in through the front door and soon turned their home into an indoor pool. They got out just before the water reached the electrical outlets.

Carroll called the homeowners, Julie and Nicholas Del Bianco, who live upstairs, to warn them of the flooding. The Del Biancos went downstairs to find 4 feet of water in their finished basement. Mrs. Del Bianco's new 2006 Lincoln Zephyr -- which the couple recently purchased for about $35,000 -- was floating in the garage.

Friday morning, the Carrolls sifted through sludge to rescue what remained of their belongings.

"It's not a lot of things we have, but it's all gone," Carroll said.

Simply cleaning up the Del Biancos' home will cost about $15,000, according to one estimate -- which doesn't include the cost of replacing their possessions or to repair/replace their car. The couple said they don't have flood insurance.

City Councilman Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore) and Assemblyman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) visited the Del Biancos' neighborhood yesterday afternoon and promised to push the city Department of Environmental Protection to fix the "clearly inadequate" drainage.

"It's an unacceptable situation. We are going to do whatever it takes to engineer a solution to the problem," Lanza said, adding that he expects to meet with the DEP in the next couple of weeks.

"These people really can't go on living under the fear their houses are going to be underwater," Lanza added.

Huguenot resident Lori Riccio knows what that's like.

Since she bought her home on Darlington Avenue in June 2005, it has been flooded a half-dozen times. She recently repaired the basement, which was damaged by a storm in October -- only to have it destroyed again by Thursday's rains.

"There's got to be a way to get this solved. I'm afraid to fix it again," Ms. Riccio said.

She has contacted various city agencies for help but they offer neither answers nor solutions, she said. "It's like a circle . . . everyone passes the buck."

Partly because of the damage wreaked by the storm, plans to install sewage systems to alleviate flooding in Huguenot have been speeded up and construction should begin in about 60 days, Lanza said.

Still, that may be too late -- or not quick enough -- for residents who have been coping with these problems for decades, and are clearly frustrated.

"A lot of people are getting disgusted with the flooding on Staten Island," Schwartz said. "They keep building around us, and some people are making a lot of money on our misfortune. It's not fair."

Peter N. Spencer is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at spencer@siadvance.com.

 

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