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Schumer, Gillibrand & Rice Announce $1.8M Federal Flood Protection Grant for Island Park

Written by Long Island News & PR  |  02. September 2015

Washington, DC - September 1, 2015 - U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice (NY-04) today announced that the Village of Island Park has been awarded a $1,800,000 federal grant to fund the first phase of a project to upgrade the Village’s municipal storm drainage system in order to better protect the Island Park community from future storms. During Superstorm Sandy, the Village was inundated with a six-to-eight foot storm surge that damaged 95 percent of the homes in Island Park, as well as two schools, a public library and several businesses. Specifically, the Phase I funding installment will cover the costs of a comprehensive engineering study of the Village’s drainage system, municipal bulkheads and roadways in order to determine where drainage pipes need to be replaced or improved, where new bulkheads need to be constructed, and where chronically-flooded roads need to be raised. Ultimately, the Village will use the recommendations in this study to implement an upgraded municipal storm drainage system including 42,000 feet of new storm sewers, tide gates, sub-surface storm water retention, three potential road elevations, and 2,000 feet of upgraded bulkhead. The total estimated cost of the entire project is $40,000,000, 100 percent of which will be funded by the federal government through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

"The Village of Island Park was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy when storm surge flooded homes, schools and businesses. This federal hazard mitigation funding will help make sure Island Park is better protected in the event of a future storm by studying the best possible infrastructure solutions to make the Village stronger. I am pleased that FEMA has provided this funding and I will continue to fight for all the necessary resources to make Long Island better and stronger than before the storm," said Senator Schumer.

"After Island Park suffered heavy flooding during Superstorm Sandy, this critical funding will provide resources to help strengthen our storm drainage system on Long Island,” said Senator Gillibrand. “These funds will allow for critical repairs that will help keep residents and their property safe. I will continue to push for funding to help ensure our communities have the resources they need to be prepared for when the next storm hits.”

“Almost three years after Sandy brought a massive storm surge that left Island Park completely under water, this first installment of federal funding will allow the Village to start overhauling their storm drainage system so that residents and properties are better protected from extreme weather events in the future,” said Representative Kathleen Rice. “I’m grateful that FEMA has made this critical investment in the resiliency of our district’s infrastructure, and I’ll keep working to make sure all communities in our district get the resources they need to recover from Sandy and prepare for future storms.”

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