Record Breaking Rainfall Inundates Scarsdale

Library Pond overflowedWe drove around town on Friday September 28 after a record breaking 5.78 inches of rain inundated the Village.

The severity of the downpour caused an early school dismissal. Fortunately those with cars in the high school lot were warned early enough to remove their cars from the lot before the entire expanse along Brewster Road merged into a vast pond.

Scarsdale High School became lakefront property.

The rainfall swelled library pond and the benches and pergola that usually surround the pond were submerged by rising waters.

At George Field, the seven acre retention pond filled up as planned, but it was not sufficient to ward off the flooding of the adjacent roadway on Oxford Road.

The seven acre retention pond at George Field filled up but could not stop the flooding of Oxford Road

Just up the hill next to the water tower on Garden Road – at a site where developers have proposed eight homes - there was more ponding.

Cars submerged on Boulevard

And further south on Boulevard near Sprague Road we found these cars submerged in deep water.

Around noon that same day, a house fire on Graham Road further diverted rescue crews who were busy assisting drivers trapped in their cars and redirecting traffic from flooded areas.

Firefighters were able to save a house on Graham Road.

The Bronx River Parkway flooded and was closed, and the deluge caused the shutdown of the New York Subway system and Metro North, trapping many in the city with no way to get back to Scarsdale.

Culverts and streams overflowed their banks and many residents reported flooding in their basements.

And last – a friend shared this frightening scene from Central Park Avenue near the Alamo Theater.

Flooding on Central Park Avenue

It was a high stress day for the Village. With 100 year storms coming annually, stormwater management is paramount.