Flooding concerns in West Nyack drop with new town project underway

Thanks to the Klein Avenue Levee improvement project, flooding in the area is not expected to be a problem anymore.

News 12 Staff

Oct 27, 2021, 10:13 AM

Updated 1,075 days ago

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While parts of Rockland County saw flooding from Tuesday's storm, one area has seen the problem improve.
A town project in West Nyack is easing flooding concerns in some neighborhoods.
Thanks to the Klein Avenue Levee improvement project, flooding in the area is not expected to be a problem anymore.
The more than $6 million project to raise the existing levee by three feet is being funded by the feds, the county and the town. They have also installed two 18" pumps to flush out water if the levels get too high.
The work started in April and this phase is done, which should protect the nearly 200 homes on or near Klein Avenue.
A town engineer tells News 12 this area, which has been flooded in the past during severe storms, should never deal with it again.
There was no flooding from this week's storm nor Hurricane Ida.
The Clarkstown town supervisor described how the project proved to be a major difference maker this summer The water would have crested above the old levee by 2 feet which means that every one of these houses here would have had 4 to 8 feet of water in their basements. And it would have cascaded down Klein Avenue and wiped out the West Nyack business district," says Supervisor George Hoehmann.
Hoehmann adds that flood insurance for homeowners is expected to drop significantly because the flood designation will likely be changing.
He says some homeowners pay $20,000 a year for  their insurance and that could drop to less than $2,000.
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