New York City's Comptroller is faulting the city for not doing enough to prevent communities from being waterlogged in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ophelia last year.

New York

New York City’s Comptroller Brad Lander has issued a critical report regarding the city’s preparedness and response to Tropical Storm Ophelia, which struck the city last year. The report highlights significant shortcomings in the city's efforts to mitigate the storm's effects, particularly in preventing widespread flooding.

During Tropical Storm Ophelia, New York City experienced severe rainfall, exceeding eight inches, which resulted in unprecedented flooding, including water intrusion into the subway system. The aftermath prompted a detailed investigation into the city’s readiness for such events, culminating in the release of Comptroller Lander's findings.

The investigation identified major failures in infrastructure maintenance and emergency coordination. Notably, it was found that two-thirds of the city’s catch basin cleaning trucks were out of service at the time of the storm, leaving only 19 operational trucks for all five boroughs. This lack of resources significantly hampered efforts to clear water from key areas.

Additionally, the report criticized the absence of an appointed extreme weather coordinator within the city’s administrative structure until recently. Deputy Mayor Camille Joseph-Varlack was appointed to this position last month, following the storm’s devastation.

Public communication was another area where the city's response was found lacking. The report indicated that timely warnings were not issued to residents, with the mayor's press conference on the storm occurring several hours after the onset of heavy rainfall. Moreover, the communication to schools and the broader community was inadequate, with less than 3% of New Yorkers over the age of 16 receiving opt-in alerts about the impending flooding.

In response to the Comptroller's report, Mayor Adams’ office stated that city agencies had inspected 900 catch basins and deployed thousands of flood barriers, rain barrels, and other mitigation tools, while also claiming to have communicated with millions of New Yorkers two days before the storm hit.

Comptroller Lander’s report serves as a call to action for New York City to enhance its storm preparedness and response measures. This comprehensive review of the city's efforts during Tropical Storm Ophelia underscores the need for significant improvements in infrastructure maintenance, emergency coordination, and public communication.




New York releases damning storm response report

Maybe seven months in a rearview mirror, but most remember the more than eight inches of rain Tropical Storm Ophelia dumped on New Yorkers back in September. It's nuts, these waterfalls in the subway and makes you worry a little bit. Comptroller Brad Lander's report released Monday sheds more light on the storm's impact on the city. The report also outlined the city's storm preps, which ultimately impacted residents. This report is a recommendation to the city to get more ready. The report, is New York ready for rain? Looking to the city storm operations, public and community preparedness and agency coordination. It shared three major takeaways. One, it revealed two thirds of the city's catch basin cleaning trucks were out of service, with only 19 out of about 50 trucks ready to use across all five boroughs. Two, the report criticizes the mayor for not appointing a city extreme weather coordinator. He finally did so last month, putting deputy mayor Camille Joseph-Varlack in that role. The third and perhaps most crucial point, the report concluded city public communication channels were just too slow. The mayor didn't give a press conference until several hours after heavy rains were already falling. The schools did not communicate about what was gonna be happening. It highlighted just under 3% of New Yorkers, 2.7 to be exact. Older than 16 received opt-in notify NYC alerts about the flooding. It just seems like the city has more and more work cut out for it and trying to keep up with this stuff. So, I mean, it makes me worry, you know? Mayor Adams' office reached out in response to the report, sharing this statement in part saying, quote, our agencies inspected 900 catch basins, distributed thousands of flood barriers, rain barrels, and other protective tools, and got the word out to millions of New Yorkers two days ahead of the event. Kendall Green, Fox 5 News.

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