>Irene: could have been so much worse had it hit as a category one hurricane!
Mary Ann Copp
The headquarters firehouse property flooded considerably
during Irene, including the area where the proposed cell tower was to
sited. While the tower theoretically could be built on stilts so large
equipment cabinets would not be flooded, one wonders how stable that
arrangement would be. Further, there are no federal standards for wind
speeds cell towers must be constructed to withstand. A communications
industry committee recommends somewhere around 85 mph, far less
than sustained wind speeds that Irene hit in the south and were
predicted to hit here. That said, cell towers are not appropriate for
virtually all of Ridgewood because of the hazards they pose to the
public and property in this largely residential and very populated area.
Seventeen cell towers fell during the Joplin, MO, tornadoes this
year. Cell towers have fallen even in 55 mph winds. All this risk is
unnecessary because Distributed Antenna Systems, or DAS, provide the
same, if not better, cell coverage through tiny antennas mounted on
telephone poles and connected by fiber optic wires.
Getting back
to our flooded headquarters firehouse–despite the relocation of fire
trucks and other equipment, our firefighters provided outstanding
service in our neighborhood, which was inundated. Firefighters surveyed
our neighborhood for flooded basements–there were a few–by early
afternoon, and by 4 p.m. returned to pump water from basements. They
did so between providing assistance to neighboring towns. We are
fortunate to have such an outstanding fire department. We were unable to
travel very far from our neighborhood due to roads being closed due to
flooding, but roads were very quickly blocked to prevent motorists from
going into flooded areas or areas where trees and power lines were down.
So village workers were out in full force and helping protect the
public.
My husband did a survey early Sunday morning of the
HoHoKus Brook to determine why so much flood water was coming
down nearby George Street and into our street. He found that water was
backing up behind an old cement bridge, much of which had fallen into
the brook. The bridge used to serve as a driveway from North Maple
Avenue into a house located on the western corner of Burnside Place.
Later, water was observed pooling around the area of this fallen bridge
and moving toward the firehouse, recycling center and water company
properties. Burnside Place residents told my husband that they have
asked the village to remove the dilapidated bridge many times. Now that
we have learned the hard way that this old bridge and its
debris contributes to flooding of residences and village property, the
village should take immediate action to remove it. As this constitutes
illegal fill in a floodway, the NJ DEP would agree. Village residents
and village property should not be subject to unnecessary additional
flooding risk, nor should our headquarters firehouse have further
impediments thrown in the way of its vital emergency services.
