(VIDEO: Rye FD in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat on Locust Avenue during Hurricane Ida.)
With the proverbial April showers upon us, perennial but perhaps more urgent flood mitigation discussions at city council and the upcoming June primaries ahead of the fall election season, MyRye.com is looking back at last summer’s Hurricane Ida.
On the night of Tuesday, August 31st, 2021 into Wednesday, September 1st, 2021, Hurricane Ida brought widespread destruction across Rye.
Were you impacted by Ida? Tell us your flood story.
Rye faces a flooding triple threat–brook flooding (from both the Blind Brook and the Beaver Swamp Brook), storm water flooding (the ability of city, county and homeowner systems to handle flooding) and coastal flooding. As flooding becomes more frequent and severe, expensive complex and multi-jurisdictional solutions at mitigation will require time and great fortitude.
Rye Fire Department headquarters is on Locust Street, between downtown Purchase Street and the Blind Brook. Many businesses on Purchase Street, the Rye YMCA just across the Blind Brook and residences on Mead Place experienced severe flooding.
New multi-million dollar residences – Locust Rye – are being constructed diagonally across from Rye FD HQ immediately adjacent to the Blind Brook. During Ida, construction materials were swept from the Locust Rye site all down the Blind Brook through town and the Rye Nature Center property.
Photos and video below show the damage to Rye FD headquarters.
(VIDEO: Shows the backside of Rye FD HQ. You would more typically see a walking path next to the Blind Brook. The area backs up the the 9-11 Memorial Gazebo, the Rye Library and the Village Green.)
