WEBSTER, N.Y. — With Lake Ontario expected to get near its flood stage later this week, lakeshore communities are preparing for the worst.
News10NBC has been tracking how communities in Greece, Webster, Irondequoit, Sodus, and more are preparing for possible flooding this spring and summer. It comes as Lake Ontario is forecasted to be a quarter-inch from flood stage by this Friday and to exceed its flood stage by Friday, May 15, according to the International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canadian partnership that tracks water levels.
When Lake Ontario flooded in 2017 and 2019, it caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. Here’s how communities are working to protect their properties:
Drones to map flood threats in Wayne County
In Wayne County, the emergency management office is expected to fly drones along the Lake Ontario shoreline starting this week to improve its flood-threat mapping.
News10NBC spoke with Bryce Carmichael, who’s part of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board at the IJC. While they’re not responsible for predicting what the flood impacts will be, the commission says its forecasts can help lakeshore communities to prepare.
“So again, there is no basin-wide flood level, quote unquote, that defines when people could see risks or impacts to their properties,” Carmichael said. “But we are seeing the potential for some impacts in some communities. So it really basically varies depending on where they are along the lakeshore coastline.”
Carmichael says the best way to stay prepared is to remain in contact with local officials. The mayor of Sodus Point says officials will update its residents on social media as the area braces for possible flooding.
Flooding potential depends on the wind’s direction
The chance of communities seeing flooding depends on the wind’s direction. Low-lying areas face a greater risk of flooding when the winds come from the north, leading to larger waves along the shore. That’s what happened during the 2017 and 2019 floods. Carmichael spoke about what could happen this year based on the IJC’s forecasts.
“At the very wettest that we’re forecasting at this point, we could see levels maybe within a foot of what we saw in 2017 and 2019, and maybe even not even up to like 1.6 or 7 feet below what we saw. So the risks of the extreme event recurring this year are very, very minimal,” he said.
Water pumps on standby in Greece
The Town of Greece has water pumps on standby along Edgemere Drive, which saw flooding in 2017 and 2019. During those years, water levels reached close to 250 feet.
The town worked with the state on several projects to install permanent pump lines under streets, replacing the roughly 15 hoses that crossed roads during the 2019 flooding. Residents can request sandbags from the town, which has about 40,000 bags in supply. Greece Supervisor Jeff McCann spoke about the preparation.
“We wanted to do more than hope. We wanted to be in a position to actually take action, again, to be ready to serve them and protect them and their property,” McCann said.
The post Lakeshore communities use sandbags, pumps, and drones as flood stage gets nearer appeared first on WHEC.com.
