Press Release, Sen. Charles Schemer

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Army Corps of Engineers plans to deploy two expert federal mitigation teams to Lake Ontario communities to help address the ongoing flooding issues, which are a result of high water levels that are impacting homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

“Rising water levels are threatening and have damaged Lake Ontario communities’ homes, businesses and infrastructure and the feds must do all they can to prevent damage and protect critical infrastructure,” Schemer said in news release on Thursday. “That’s why it’s essential for these federal Army Corps teams of flood experts to get on the ground ASAP and provide technical support and mitigation assistance to help prevent further flooding damage. They can also lay important groundwork for the delivering of future federal resources. I am glad the Army Corps will expand their efforts tomorrow and over the weekend to help local communities. Every federal resource helps, and I will work hard to deliver any and all available support.”

National Guard members place sandbags along the shoreline at Ed Rose Shores in Kendall on Sunday. Many Kendall residents have lost big chunks of their backyards to erosion in the past two weeks.

The Army Corps of Engineers will deploy technical experts to 10 sites in the Lake Ontario area that were selected and identified by the New York State Emergency Management Office: Olcott, Kendall, Hamlin, Irondequoit, Webster, Sodus/Sodus Point, Huron, Fair Haven, Lyme, and Ogdensburg.

Already, the Army Corps of Engineers has supplied approximately 150,000 sandbags to towns and communities along New York’ Lake Ontario coastline as a mitigation measure. Schumer says he will continue to push for more support for the Lake Ontario Community and New York State as they grapple with high water level brought on by increased precipitation and snowmelt.

Due to increased flooding issues, Schumer called on the Army Corps to deploy experts in areas like coastal engineering, geology, hydrology and, engineering operations. Specifically, the teams will work to assess conditions and provide technical assistance and guidance on constructing/installing temporary flood mitigation controls.

Once that assessment is complete then New York State can work with the communities to take action, and implement Army Corps recommendations or in some situations the State may be able to request additional action be taken on a case by case basis under the Army Corps’ Advanced Measures Program.

If the State and local community choose to pursue that approach with specific projects then the Army Corps could cover up to 75% of the cost. In addition to the response teams, and Schumer helped to secure thousands of sandbags, other mitigation tools to help alleviate the flooding.

Schumer explained this year, the above average precipitation and snowmelt has dramatically increased water levels in lakes, streams, and rivers across the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario. For example according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer data, the current Lake Ontario levels have now surpassed levels last experienced during the high water year of 1973. Schumer said with the wet conditions expected to continue in the near-term and with more rain forecasted this month that it was past time to give residents the tools they need to deal prevent further damage from high water levels and flooding.

Schumer has pushed officials to address the Lake Ontario flooding. Just this month Schumer sent letters to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Schumer pushed and got the Army Corps of Engineers to help join in the flood protection efforts. Following Senator Schumer’s letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Army Corps’ USACE Buffalo District agreed to issue a Declaration of Emergency designation order.

This allows the USACE to activate their Emergency Operations Center to (EOC) to assist the State of New York during the Lake Ontario High Water Level Event 2017. The order enables the Army Corps to support the NYS agencies response efforts and enables them to conduct technical assistance activities, such as the deployment of technical assistance official to the impacted areas.

Schumer also called on the Army Corps and the NYS DEC to issue a joint “General Permit” that will allow would allow towns, villages, and counties impacted by this flooding to take emergency storm protection measures without going through the longer study and review process.

This will allow municipalities and property owners to quickly do things like repairing or reinforcing break walls or other shoreline protection. The DEC and the Army Corps approved this expedited permit process and finalized it just last week.

Finally, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand sent a letter to the IJC, and urged them to use their authority under Criterion H14 take all actions possible to mitigate flood risks to at-risk homeowners – including increasing maximum possible outflows at the Moses-Saunders dam.

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Lt. Governor says eroding shoreline, threatening homes along Lake Ontario is ‘cataclysmic’

KENDALL – Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul met with some property owners along Lake Ontario on Thursday, as well as local officials and about 50 members of the National Guard.

One couple from Hamlin told her the lake has been devouring their land, forcing them to cut off their deck after two of their trees toppled into the lake. Rick and Mary Davis said they fear their house is next, as the lake erodes the shoreline.

Hochul said so many other residents are vulnerable from the high waters.

“Our hearts are breaking for them,” she said. “This is their life savings. We cannot solve this problem overnight.”

National Guard members stack sandbags at the Bald Eagle Marina in Kendall, which has lost 350 to 400 feet of its beach. The marina was able to put in a new breakwall after getting an expedited permit from the DEC a week ago.

The lake is up nearly 4 feet since January, and is about 2 feet higher than normal. It is wreaking devastation on the south shore. The Quebec province in Canada also is being inundated with water. Quebec has evacuated nearly 3,000 residents due to flooding. The Lt. Governor said the lakeshore flooding and erosion is a “cataclysmic situation.”

April had record-breaking rain with 6 inches, followed by more downpours in May. Hochul said that rain, plus big outflows from Lake Erie, are the prime factors in the high lake levels, not the controversial lake management plan from the International Joint Commission.

Hochul said it will take a reprieve from the rain to help bring the water levels down.

“We’re doing everything you can but you can’t control the weather,” she said in Kendall at the Bald Eagle Marina. “We’re hitting it from every approach that we can.”

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley meet with members of the National Guard filling sandbags at the Kendall Highway Department garage. These Guardsmen are from the 107th Air Force in Niagara Falls.

The Guardsmen were filling sandbags in the Kendall Highway Department, while another group stacked them near the shoreline to help fight flooding.

Hochul thanked them for their service to the lakeshore residents. The flooding is devastating to homeowners and businesses along the lake. Hochul said the state is bringing in resources from many agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation, Homeland Security, Army Corps of Engineers, the State Department of Financial Services, and other state officials.

Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata said many people have stepped forward to help lakeshore residents.

Kendall has filled more than 47,000 sandbags and distributed them into the community. Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata said the flooding has many residents deeply worried as the lake chews away at their backyards, getting closer to their homes.

Cammarata thanked the many residents for helping fill sandbags. He praised the National Guard, and a group of inmates form the Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica. Local businesses, and the Ladies Auxiliary have stepped up providing meals for the people helping with the big sandbag effort.

“We have the whole community involved with this one focus of helping our fellow neighbors,” Cammarata told Hochul and other officials who stopped at the highway garage t see the sandbagging effort.

The town supervisor also praised Highway Superintendent Warren Kruger for managing the operation, which includes a growing list of residents seeking help. Kruger and the Highway Department put a chute on the back of salt trucks, and that innovation has allowed the town to drastically speed up the pace of filling the bags, approaching 6,000 a day.

National Guard members from Niagara Falls fill 50-pound bags on Thursday. The National Guard arrived in Kendall last Saturday and is expected to stay for about another week. There are also National Guard Army units from Geneva and Rochester filling and placing sandbags in Kendall.

“Know that everyone appreciates what you are doing,” Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul told the Guardsmen on Thursday. “These bags are bringing hope to the residents.”

The National Guard has been in Kendall for nearly a week helping with the sandbag effort. These sandbags are being placed at the Bald Eagle Marina to help fight flooding.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley thanked the National Guard for helping the lakeshore property owners.

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Mobile command center at OC Marine Park today to assist with filing insurance claims

KENDALL – Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will be in Kendall today to see the community’s efforts to fight the flooding from a high Lake Ontario.

She will stop by the Kendall Highway Department, where volunteers, inmates and town employees have filled more than 40,000 sandbags the past two weeks.

She also is expected to go to the Bald Eagle Marina, which has lost about 350 to 400 feet of beachfront property, and remains vulnerable to the high lake and its waves.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley said there is some good news in the fight against erosion from the lake.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is implementing its Advanced Measures and Emergency Ops Flood Fighting programs immediately to assist flood victims along the Lake Ontario Shoreline.

“This is the news that homeowners and businesses have been waiting for,” Hawley said. “I applaud the governor’s work to bring assistance to the flooded areas and I am hopeful that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be able to rapidly deploy services to mitigate further damage ahead of the rain forecasted for this weekend. I am still working with Gov. Cuomo’s office to secure federal and state funds to help us rebuild after the flooding has subsided.”

The Army Corps program includes technical assistance and direct assistance, consisting of data collection, identifying flood threats, mapping out flood evacuation plans, inspecting Flood Control Works, identifying flood threats to the area, providing emergency flood flight supplies to the area, emergency construction of protective measures, and a host of other initiatives to protect life and prevent urban damages and flooding of public facilities.

“I know this is a challenging time for our community, and my thoughts and prayers are with the flood victims and their family members,” Hawley said. “My office is always available to answer questions and help in any way that we can.”

Residents are also encouraged to contact the Flood Assistance Hotline at 866-244-3839 for help.

In addition, the State Department of Financial Services has a Mobile Command Center in Orleans today at the County Marine Park on Route 98 in Point Breeze. The center will provide insurance help to residents affected by the flooding along Lake Ontario, Gov. Cuomo said in a news release.

The center will have staff at the Marine Park today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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‘It’s happening so quickly, I don’t know what to do.’

KENDALL – Lakeshore residents are trying to protect their land as Lake Ontario chews up their backyards, getting closer to septic systems and houses.

Many of the residents have lost 10 to 30 feet of their backyards in the past two weeks. Breakwalls have been breached and the soil is being devoured by the lake.

“It’s happening so quickly, I don’t know what to do,” said Heather Drake of Knapp Shores.

She has lived along the lake for six years and has a concrete breakwall. That wall now has a crack in it, and water is going overtop and underneath the breakwall.

The lake and its big waves are chewing away land behind Heather Drake’s breakwall in Kendall.

The Town of Kendall has filled in gaps in the yard near the breakwall by putting 2,300 sandbags on the property. Many of those sandbags have also been washed away from the lake.

The town has been experimenting with larger bags from farmers, where up to 150 sandbags can be put in. Warren Kruger, the town highway superintendent, said they may provide a temporary fix until residents can work out bringing in rocks to better protect their property.

“I’ve lived here six years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Drake said this morning as waves pummeled the breakwall, splashing several feet into her backyard.

The waves have taken chunks of land, including this spot on Ed Shores Road owned by John Procopio. He has lived by the lake on Ed Rose Shores for 32 years. He said you can expect to lose about a foot a year to the lake. He has lost about 10 feet the past week.

“I lost another three feet since yesterday,” he said this morning, checking his backyard. “I’m at the mercy of the lake right now. It’s undercutting the dirt and then the top caves in.”

He put in boulders more than three decades ago, and the water has go over them. Many of the big rocks along the shoreline are no longer a wall. They have been knocked around, and the water has “open season” on the soil, Kruger said.

The National Guard and Kendall residents work to get sandbags in place on Knapp Shores.

Orleans and Niagara counties have been under a flood warning today due to the high lake waters and northern winds that have been causing big waves to hit the southshore.

Procopio said the wind is an enemy right now.

“The northern wind just beats the hell out of everything,” he said.

Eric Maxon, a highway department worker, has pallets full of sandbags for residents on Knapp Shores. Kruger, the highway superintendent, said the roads are narrow and the houses close together, which makes bringing in equipment difficult at some locations.

The town has distributed more than 27,000 sandbags, and they are helping to stave off erosion in some spots. The highway department helped create one wall of sandbags on Saturday that was tied down with ropes and stakes. Kruger was pleased to see that was still holding today.

That could serve as a blueprint for success, to be emulated along other properties.

“The sandbags are just temporary to try to save what you can of your property,” he said.

Warren Kruger, second from right, meets with lakeshore residents today, including Mike Anschutz, in camouflage.

Mike Anschutz recently purchased a house that has been in his family since 1963. The house was originally his great-grandmother’s.

Last summer, Anschutz sat at the end of his property, dipping his toes in the water. Now he worries the lake will barrel into the house.

Anschutz’s neighbor, Les Kurpiewski had a deck by the water a week ago. Now it’s caved in.

Bill Vess said he’s lost five feet of his backyard and worries more will be gone. Warren Kruger, the highway superintendent, is nervous as breakwalls have been breached, with soil vulnerable to the lake.

As Kruger drove along the lakeshore roads, he saw residents with wheelbarrows, pushing sandbags to their backyards. Other residents were out checking on neighbors.

“This is really hard for a lot of people, but they are keeping their spirits up,” Kruger said.

The governor has declared a state emergency for the southshore and has directed the Department of Environmental Conservation to expedite the permitting process to along stone and upgraded breakwalls for homeowners.

Kruger said the breakwalls are costly, and many residents will need help to pay for them.

Ideally, he said there would be a consistent breakwall along the shoreline. Right now, it varies with different levels of protection.

Jim Barrett (left), president of the Kendall Fire Department, and his son Alex check the shoreline this morning on Ed Rose Shores.

Barrett said many of the residents lack the resources to bring in rocks and strengthen breakwalls.

Bob Defendorf uses a tractor to bring a pallet of sandbags for residents on Knapp Shores.

A chunk of Thompson Drive at the western end of Kendall has been eaten up by the lake.

The National Guard from Rochester helps stack sandbags today in Kendall.

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‘I couldn’t be prouder of the turnout from the community as a whole.’ Warren Kruger, Kendall highway superintendent

KENDALL – There were about 50 residents working together this morning inside the Kendall highway garage, filling and stacking 50-pound sandbags. Residents filled 3,600 on Saturday and were on pace to pass that today, doing about 800 an hour.

Kendall has now distributed more than 27,000 sandbags to lakeshore residents the past two weeks.

The town had assistance from inmates from the Orleans Correctional Facility and a county jail work release crew. Residents were able to fill the gap this weekend. They filled the sandbags and about 20 National Guardsmen from Rochester worked by the lake to put the sandbags in place.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the turnout from the community as a whole,” said Warren Kruger, Kendall highway superintendent.

Without the volunteers and National Guard, the sandbag operation would have been largely at a standstill this weekend, when the shoreline was under a flood warning due to high lake levels and damaging waves.

Tom Drennan stacks sandbags this morning in the highway garage, one of many community volunteers to help with the task.

“Many hands make light work,” Drennan said.

Kruger, the highway superintendent, said the town last filled sandbags for lakeshore residents in the late 1990s. The process didn’t go too well back then. It was a slow and inefficient process.

Kruger said the town has learned from that experience.

“We’re like a GM assembly line,” he said.

Pallets of sandbags are stacked outside the Kendall highway garage. They were distributed by the lakeshore later in the morning.

The Kendall school district put out an automated phone call on Friday and Saturday evenings, asking residents to meet at the highway garage the next morning to help fill sandbags.

Steve Meyer, pastor of the Concordia Lutheran Church, sent a memo to church members on Saturday, urging them to come to church in their work clothes and then join him and filling and stacking sandbags.

“This is what the residents of Kendall are all about, helping one another,” said Town Supervisor, Tony Cammarata. “It’s amazing. This community has really bonded together.”

Cammarata said church-goers, firefighters, farmers, members of the Lions Club and other local residents, including some from neighboring towns, have helped with the sandbags.

Sandy Wilson fills one of the sandbags. The highway department put a chute on a salt spreader to direct the sand into the bags. Her husband Bob and their son were also volunteering.

“This is Kendall,” she said about the volunteers. “This is what you do.”

Cammarata said residents are still welcome to volunteer with the sandbag effort. He is hoping the rain will hold off and the lake will start going down.

“We just got to keep going and hopefully Mother Nature will be good to us,” he said.

Sam Charland, 7, hands a sandbag to Ken Spohr of Kendall.

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Bald Eagle Marina, with help from community, tries to ward off waves

KENDALL – Bald Eagle Marina has lost more than 350 to 400 feet of beachfront property to Lake Ontario in the past two weeks.

The marina, which is working to open a restaurant and expand facilities for boaters and the community, is in survival mode from the devouring water.

“We’ve lost an immense amount of land,” Susan Oschmann, Bald Eagle general manager, told a contingent of officials on Friday. “The docks could be next.”

The marina has lost about 350 to 400 feet of beachfront property. The marina set one-ton sand bags in front of the docks on Friday. It received permission from the DEC on Friday to put in a wall of rocks.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, State Sen. Robert Ortt, and representatives from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Congressman Chris Collins stopped by the marina on Friday, part of a tour of the shoreline damage in Niagara, Orleans and Monroe counties.

They were able to expedite a permit for Bald Eagle to put in a wall of rocks to help protect the docks.

The lake is nearly 2 feet above average, and has been pounding the shoreline, chewing away property.

Many southshore residents in the three counties have seen their backyards vanish.

Backhoes work to fill big sandbags to provide added protection for the marina on Friday.

Oschmann said the marina’s neighbors have helped ward off waves. Bald Eagle and its friends placed one-ton sandbags along what used to be the start on a beach. A typical sandbag holds about 40-50 pounds of sand.

Local farmers donated large seed and fertilizer bags that hold about a ton of sand. Kludt Farms, Bob Wilson of Locust Grove Farm and others donated bags to hold the sand. Kludt was at the shoreline in the driving rain and with the crashing waves, setting the big tubs of sand in place on Friday.

Warren Kruger, the Kendall highway superintendent, is amassing photos of a chewed up shoreline.

Even residents who had breakwalls are losing land. The waves splash in the back yards and “back wash erosion” eats away the soil, Kruger said. Eventually, many of the breakwalls topple, after getting hit with water from both directions.

“Then it’s open season,” Kruger said about washed out stone walls.

The highway superintendent said it won’t be a short-term fight. The lake hasn’t crested yet and could stay high into the summer.

“This is going to be a couple month-long deal or longer,” Kruger said. “We’ve already lost tons of property.”

The town has delivered 21,000 sandbags to lakeshore property owners. Kruger said those sandbags can help preserve soil in the “splash zone.”

The marina has numerous sandbags in place along the edge of the water.

Crews worked feverishly to get larger sandbags in place in front of the marina’s docks to try to preserve property.

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A flood watch has been upgraded to a flood warning for the southshore of Lake Ontario in Orleans, Niagara and Monroe counties.

The warning from the National Weather Service is in effect until 2 a.m. Saturday. The lake is 22 inches above normal, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Weather Service said flooding is expected in flood-prone areas along the shoreline, and the waves will erode some of the shoreline and beaches.

Workers and volunteers at the Bald Eagle Marina in Kendall try to build up protection against the encroaching lake.

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