Rotterdam Junction flood victims soaked again

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

Thursday evening’s storms created a new headache for flood-plagued Rotterdam Junction, as two of three storm drain pumps were knocked out of service for a time.

The result, town Highway Superintendent Jim Longo said, was water backing up again into homes on Lock Street. Town crews worked quickly to fix the problem, and the pumps were expected to be back online and fully operational again before the evening was out, he said.

It was unclear what happened to the pumps, Longo said, but a lightning strike could have caused them to lose power. The one pump that remained couldn’t handle the storm runoff, sending water back into homes still drying out from the Irene disaster.

Rain came through in two storms Thursday evening, one before sunset and one after. Rainfall totals in some areas could have reached 1 1⁄2 inches, based on radar estimates, according to the National Weather Service.

The outage just added to the problems of Lock Street residents.

Paul and Jane Vanston got a call from a neighbor Thursday night that water was returning, threatening Paul Vanston’s work vehicle. They rushed home and moved it to higher ground, but at least 3 inches of water went back into their basement. The flood from Irene left their home in 10 feet of water.

Three inches was more of what they didn’t need at all, Jane Vanston said Thursday.

“It’s just a total nightmare.”