Suffern DPW prepares village to 'bend, not break' if storm hits directly
The design and infrastructure of Suffern become overwhelmed during downpours a few times a year, though the flooding usually subsides quickly.
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Leaders of flood-prone communities in Rockland County have been hoping a slow-moving storm misses them, but they still spent much of Thursday preparing for a downpour, which could be a huge disruption in one particular village.
Suffern, incorporated in 1796, is not designed to withstand a 5-inch downpour.
"We're ready for anything that comes out," Suffern Public Works Director Joe Hunt told News 12 Thursday morning.
The goal at the department for the next two days is to set up the village to bend but not break in the event of a direct hit by the storm.
"We everything ready that I can possibly think I could use," Hunt said, "and wait for it to come and hit."
Staff was filling sandbags for residents to guard their properties, heavy-duty machinery that can move any downed tree or pole, and blockades.
They may end up using the blockades.
The design and infrastructure of Suffern become overwhelmed during downpours a few times a year, though the flooding usually subsides quickly.
A line on the wall of the Chestnut Street underpass beneath the NJ Transit train tracks shows that floodwaters have risen to as high as 18 inches along the low-lying roadway.
Several locals said they are prepared for other underpasses and facilities to again flood if the village experiences an extreme downpour.
These flood-prone places include Memorial Drive along the Mahwah River, The Mahwah underpass, and the little league baseball complex.
The village has used grant money and some of its own funds to elevate a commuter parking lot and two wells around the main little league field which is located in a gully behind the train station.
The field itself was donated decades ago before it was widely known how flood-prone the area is.
That has led the field and its non-elevated surroundings to be inundated a few times a year.
Public works staff also moved everything on the ground floor of the concessions and equipment building to the top floor.
Their main concern in the coming hours is to keep floodwaters from blocking the one path from their headquarters to the rest of the village.
To minimize that possibility, they spent much of Thursday clearing storm drains one-by-one throughout the village.
