Flood maps should be suspended

The following is a letter written to Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy.

To the Editor:

As I am certain you recall, numerous meeting, calls, symposiums and discussions were held between our federal and village officials with regard to the implemented FEMA flood maps and their impact on the Village of Valley Stream. Although it was only anecdotal, many residents made a strong case that in all their time in the village, they never had a flood — even in major storms. Officials from FEMA insisted that while reality may have told that story, their data told another. They insisted that a strong storm, combined with high tide and storm surge, would devastate not only Valley Stream, but all of Nassau County south of Sunrise Highway.

Then fate took a hand.

In the prior week, forecasters warned of a “50-year storm,” approaching New York and the Eastern Seaboard. Some warned it would be “historic,” or “unprecedented.” President Obama himself warned the entire East Coast of how dangerous this hurricane would be.

On Sunday, Hurricane Irene struck the South Shore of Long Island, making landfall into Jamaica Bay, at peak high tide. The result was that New Jersey and Vermont experienced severe flooding.

In Valley Stream, we experienced some downed trees, power outages and a small amount of excess water. Nothing near the flooding that was predicted. In fact, in spite of all the rhetoric regarding “South of Sunrise Highway,” most of the storm’s impact occurred north of Sunrise Highway. My house in Gibson did not even lose power.

I strongly request that you immediately direct FEMA to suspend the flood maps until a more comprehensive study can be conducted. Specifically, I would like to strongly request that the Army Corps of Engineers be allowed to conduct the study they offered to in the past, which FEMA mysteriously refused.

Everyone makes mistakes — including federal agencies. Rarely are those mistakes admitted to and corrected. This is a golden opportunity for FEMA to correct the mistake it imposed upon our community.

Vincent Grasso

Deputy mayor

Village of Valley Stream