Waterlogged residents in Westchester search for solutions to constant flooding
Whether it's clearing debris or planting trees, residents say action is needed now.
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Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said he's fed up with the flooding in Westchester.
"People lose cars, lose property, they lose their homes," Feiner said.
The frustration led him to start a petition that calls on state and county officials to clear debris from the Saw Mill and Bronx rivers.
"Every time there's a major storm, we go through the same thing – there’s flooding, there's property damages," Feiner said.
While people have already signed Feiner's petition, Westchester County officials said they've already been doing the work to clear the rivers in Greenburgh.
In addition to Feiner's idea, Victor Medina, an employee from an environmental nonprofit called Groundwork Hudson Valley, said he believes trees could be the key to preventing flooding.
"This is not something you're going to see in one year or two years, but willows and these other riparian trees and riparian forests tend to hold the soil of riverbanks together," Medina said.
Medina said his team at the nonprofit has already planted some trees along parts of the Saw Mill River.
"Over the long term, [they are] supposed to absorb a lot of the floodwaters that come to the Saw Mill River from heavy rain, storm surges, etc.," Medina said.
Whether it's clearing debris or planting trees, residents, like Juan Avolio of Yonkers, said action is needed now.
"The citizens of this community have suffered way long enough and imagine owning a property around here and having to deal with flooding every time that something like occurs," Avolio said.
Westchester County released a statement saying:
The County has already been working on doing the clearings from the various rivers in Greenburgh on a multitude of flooding projects.
