Messy Cleanup Follows City's Record Rainfall

By: Roger Clark

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The mayor says work crews are pumping out water and clearing drains in preparation for today's expected heavy storms, as homeowners in low-lying parts of Queens and other boroughs are coping with flooded basements and streets.

At a Brooklyn press conference this afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the sewer system ran into problems as more than seven inches of rain fell yesterday, because the system cannot handle the vast amounts of runoff.

Department of Environmental Protection officials say the agency is out in full force helping to alleviate problems from the storm, with water maintenance and repair crews responding to highway and street flooding and sewer back-ups.

Sunday's rainfall was the highest ever recorded in the city in one day.

In Queens, many basements and roads in Jamaica flooded and in Lindenwood residents were forced to drive or wade through flooded streets.

Lenita Christendatt, who lives in a particularly low-lying area of Emerald Street off of Linden Boulevard, had water rush into her basement on Sunday.

"Everything is damaged, so we have to throw everything away," said Christendatt.

Another resident, David Wright, could not start up the new Mercedes Benz he bought last week, and he blamed his car trouble on the rain.

"Every time rain comes, this is what happens, but this is the worst I have seen so far," Wright said.

Residents who spoke with NY1 hoped today's rain would not bring further damage and inconvenience.

"I have three pumps running, or else my basement would be all flooded out," said a homeowner.

On Staten Island, residents charged poor drainage and sewer systems with contributing to the trouble.

Anyone with flooding issues should call 311.