Flooding of roads in the Monroe-Woodbury area is as regular as weekend traffic jams at Woodbury Commons. More than 4 inches of rain has fallen in the region this week, according to the National Weather Service.
As a leader of the climate change campaign group 350.org, new yorkersaid Bill McKibben. photo news“We are seeing the kind of storms that could only occur on a warmed planet. Warm air contains more water vapor than cold air, and this may be the most important fact about this century.” .”
And getting reliable information on how to navigate local roads is easier said than done. Local resident Chris Maurer said: photo news“I tried using WAZE, but it was completely unreliable. It directed me to several closed roads. I ended up taking Route 6, so I had to turn back.”
Reliable information can be difficult to come by, many residents say. photo news Facebook is the main source of information and is not always reliable. A representative from state Sen. James Skoufis’ office suggested area residents use his 511ny.org instead. This is a service operated by New York State that provides the latest traffic information.
Another area resident, Dana Kaleka, also suggested drivers sign up for NY-Alerts at Alert.NY.Gov/Sign-NY-Alert-0. With your NY.gov account, this service allows you to customize the notifications that New York State sends you, such as specific notifications about road closures and other travel obstacles in Orange County. Commenting on this week’s local road closures, Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone said, “The duration of the road closure was short. Drainage basins were cleared of debris and the area was open to traffic. Information You can find us on our website at monroeny.org.We also regularly send out multiple contacts in the event of an emergency and encourage residents to register with their monroeny.org contacts. Residents can also sign up for Code Red (which alerts residents via text message) through our website, which has a link to sign up. Let’s be thankful it’s not snowing!”
find a solution
When asked if anything was being done to alleviate the frequent flooding that occurs on roads such as County Road 5 (Lakes Road), a representative from Sen. Skoufis’ office, representing the 17 million He answered: photo news To local elected officials like Supervisor Cardone, he said: Temporal. Our current town hall would be very concerned if we were the only municipality with a problem.But despite some trepidation…we feel lucky, as towns in Orange County, Westchester County, and many areas of northern New Jersey still have road closures this afternoon. at the time of [Dec. 19]. If you live near a large body of water or a stream with mountainous areas, you are more likely to experience problems during heavy snow or rain. ”
When we asked Sen. Skoufis’ office about Route 6/Long Mountain Parkway, especially given its importance to area commuters, the senator’s office said the issue of jurisdiction and future development I brought it out. management. The state-managed portion of the Interstate 17-to-Interstate 86 dialogue project that overlaps will ensure that current and future environmental realities are considered in DOT’s planning process, but details are not available. Can’t speak. Above all, extreme weather events are common, which makes the passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 even more important. ”
According to MIT, “To prevent worsening and irreversible effects of climate change, average global temperatures should not exceed pre-industrial average temperatures by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).” ABC NewsBy 2029, the planet is likely to reach the 1.5-degree mark and may even exceed it unless significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are made.
But Mr. McKibben gives us hope. “We found that most town supervisors, DPW directors and others in the Northeast fully understand the dangers of climate change. They have spent the past 10 years eliminating 12 dangers. The old book was no longer usable, so we removed the inch culvert and replaced it with an 18-inch culvert. ”
Superintendent Cardone further stated, “We have been regularly monitoring and evaluating culverts, catch basins, and problem areas since before I took office. In addition, working with city planners, planning commissions, and city engineers to reevaluate and improve drainage requirements for new projects is a higher priority.”