TOWNSHIP OF BRASHER, N.Y. (WWNY) – “What do we do next?” That’s the question residents of a neighborhood in Brasher are asking themselves after Friday’s flash floods.
“When we saw the building, I think we were both shocked. Shocked would be the right word,” said Richard Waldroff.
Shocked to see their summer house lifted eight feet off its foundations, shocked to see a neighbor’s shed hanging in a tree, and shocked to see Waldroff see “protection trees” keeping his house from floating down the river.
When they entered the building, they could see and smell the damage.
“The furniture and appliances seemed to smell, so I believe they are gone,” Waldroff said.
As for the next steps, the first step has been taken: starting to restore the house.
“We have spoken to the company from whom we bought the building. They will come and repair the building for us,” Waldroff said.
The town of Brasher was hit hard by the remnants of Hurricane Debby. The storm forced the closure of 24 streets in town. They are now reopened.
“This is the power of Mother Nature. Who would have thought that something that started in the Gulf of Mexico would reach so far north and cause so much chaos,” said Mark Peets, mayor of Brasher Town.
Peets says the city will plan accordingly given the weather changes in the north of the country.
“We’re doing as much as we can right now to assess everything, and I’m pretty sure at my next council meeting we’ll have a lot of discussion about how this all happened and what we can do in the future to make it better,” he said.
In Madrid, the problems only began on Saturday, when the water from the Grasse river reached a height of 30 to 60 centimeters under the arches of the Madrid stone bridge. The bridge was closed on Saturday.
However, City Councilor Anthony Cooper says the problem is not with the bridge.”
“Our biggest concern was the area underneath the bridge. That’s a low-lying area and there was actually a lot of water flowing through there,” he said.
Cooper says people drive quickly across the bridge and that water accumulation at the bridge exit could have caused safety problems.
Because the water forces on the bridge were enormous, Cooper hopes the state will send in surveyors to check the bridge’s integrity.
Matt Denner, St. Lawrence County emergency management director, says the county is currently collecting data on damaged roads and associated costs and submitting it to the state.
He praised the first responders who reacted and responded, as well as the residents who complied with Friday’s travel ban.
All rights reserved.
