New Flood Mitigation Projects Kicking Off On Long Island In Wake Of Ida's Damage
BALDWIN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Millions of dollars in flooding fixes were ushered in Tuesday on Long Island.
Homeowners and businesses had been begging for relief from dangerous storms, including Hurricane Ida.
Ginger and Peter Murphy say only an act of God saved them from Ida's wrath.
"We're happy to be alive," Ginger Murphy said.
Long Island Rail Road commuters barely escaped the onslaught, and homes were crippled during the historic storm.
"with Ida and the literally unprecedented amount of rainfall that we had ... We had mud slides. We had flooding where it never happened before," Nassau County executive Laura Curran said.
Now, new flood mitigation projects are kicking off as Nassau County takes advantage of state grants to protect South Shore homes and businesses.
"Thousand percent, this is going to stop any inundation of the rising sea levels ... You could drive a boat down grand avenue," said Erik Mahler, president of the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.
Twenty million dollars in infrastructure improvements are targeting drainage in Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Bay Park, Lido Beach, East Rockaway and Baldwin.
"We live on the canal behind the park and that's filthy," Baldwin homeowner Nick Caridi told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan.
"It's a small tunnel and you see rapids coming out. It's rapids," Baldwin homeowner Dean Condoleo said.
They can no longer fish or swim but are hopeful new storm drains and dredging mean water quality will improve.
State-of-the-art check valves, pipes, leaching basins and bulkheading will take a year to install.
With more and more storm surges and tidal flooding, public safety becomes concern number one. Baldwin Fire Commissioner Doug Wiedmann says safer roads will make water rescues one less thing to worry about.
"Homes that get inundated with water, we wind up having electrical fires, there's hazardous materials outflow when there's the flooding," he said.
"We know that these extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, so we have to do what we can to mitigate the impact," Curran said.
Act now to prevent future failure.
Homeowners and renters who suffered damage during Ida's record-breaking rainfall may be eligible to receive federal funds.
Nassau County was also declared a major disaster site.