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#Post#: 202--------------------------------------------------
Looking for Ideas & Conversation for an Erie Canal Flood
Warning System - Blue Alert
DIR By: Doug K
Date: December 17, 2018, 9:26 pm
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Very soon folks living WEST of Rochester will start to
understand what safer Erie Canal Embankment Dams look like, as
the NYCC Phase 2 work moves through Western Monroe County on
their Earthen Embankment Remediation Project (EERP) this Winter.
Once we start seeing the REAL size of these Dams, both height &
length, the idea that there are 1000s of people LITERALLY living
"below the waterline" with no Flood Event Warning System will
start to become as important as the EERP work is itself. After
all, most of the opposition to this safety-driven Dam Repair
Project kept saying "If it's not Broken don't fix it" and NOW we
ALL hopefully have come to learn that statement was FAR from the
Truth.
Here are TWO undeniable Facts that are known...all proven with
the help of the Erie Canal Neighbors Association (ECNA) and the
Group formally known on Facebook as "Stop the Clear Cut" (STCC).
Please read along, learn, and it's time to move on...tougher
things to solve here and we are wasting time.
FACT 1: YES, Erie Canal Embankments are considered Dams by the
job they do, the style of manufacture in 1918, and how it
functions when FULL... some are Short, High Earthen Dams, Others
are lower & longer Earthen Dams. but kid you not these are ALL
dams and need to be cleared no matter what size they are...
Dams... End of Story
FACT 2: YES, The Erie Canal Embankment DAMS are BROKEN, and
they NEED to be FIXED for PUBLIC SAFETY... yep. End of story...
Time once again for those in the ECNA to look forward and ask
the right questions, the harder ones, like "What's Next?"
Please read this idea and PLEASE... start to understand the
SAFETY aspects of this project for a moment, because the work is
not done yet...
From Lockport to Newark, on the Erie Canal, by water... is about
100 miles. This EERP Canal project started here in OUR area for
this very reason of safety, after all, we have a very large
population that has moved into Dam Inundation Zones... DIZ.
It's Definition Time
[attachimg=1]
Remember, the EERP Canal Phase 1 work had 43 MILES of Earthen
Embankment Dams to repair per NY Canal Corp Public Meetings. So
folks, do the math..that means 43% almost 1/2 of the Erie
Canalway passing through many Western NY Counties has the
potential to flood TENS of ThOUSANDS of people who RIGHT NOW do
NOT have any Advanced Flood Alert System in place to warn
themselves in the event of an Erie Canal Dam Breach.
Get it? Just a little thing to consider when you think about
fighting those trying to FIX the Dam Problem... Thank you NYPA
for finally taking care of this Issue
Hmm, this really does seems like is something that will need to
be remedied, right along with the 100 year old Embankments we
see transforming each day. This is a part of the SAFETY issue
that was also "invisible" just like the Dams themselves were.
There is no doubt this will, AND should become a Topic that has
to start being discussed.
So the ECNA is going to start that discussion in THIS board. The
question is.. What would the Erie Canal Blue Alert System look
like?
There is an Emergency Announcement System called Amber Alert, -
for Missing Kids. Most communities like ours, who live under the
"threat" of flood do create some similar EAS Alert to alert in
the event of a flood. FEMA and their local DEC most likely
contribute as much of this is already invented, we just need to
adapt it to our situation.. and it should be easier. Read this
document---
HTML https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1845-25045-7939/fema_p_956_living_with_dams.pdf
Why will our EAS be easier? Why? Well consider that for the MOST
part these Dams are only "super full & saturated" in the warm
months, April - November. Our Dams get to "relax" a bit in the
Winter, Dec - April. We have an 66% duty cycle on our
"equipment" for those in Engineering. But the Erie Canal Blue
Alert system IS needed for folks living EAST of Rochester where
dams are much taller & longer, often viewed looking upward at a
45° to 60° angle from the over-saturated Toe of Slope... ie. the
part of the dam that slips and causes a breach. They have lots
of water overhead in storage, saturating overgrown Toe Drain
Systems FULL TIME. Holley Dam is another area of concern in the
Western End, and of course Middleport - Medina have very unique
Flood Structures, but the EARTHEN type are largest in Brighton,
Pittsford, Perinton/Fairport areas... Solve the problem there
and this will work for ALL.
Our Communities will need to figure out how to alert a specific
group of folks, and each area along the Erie Canal will be
different. If you want the BEST result you always use the WORST
CASE SCENARIO to test a system, in this case it would be the
LARGER DAMS, which could cause WORST FLOODS. If you walk the
Erie Canal a bit you would see MOST larger Erie Canal Dams are
on the East Side of Monroe County. So, if we can solve how to
alert the Fairport/ Crystal Springs areas, that sit some 50'
below the Oxbow Dam for about 900 feet, that would be a good
measure of how a Blue Alert EAS would work. Or maybe look at the
neighborhoods who are living with this thing called the Great
Embankment rising somewhere near them, that is a Dam, the water
will flood if it breaks... if you are DIRECTLY downhill of the
breach, wouldn't it be nice to get a text alert?
And this is NOT someone else's problem folks, and let's NOT form
groups to complain about the fact the Alert System is missing.
Please... Lets use this ECNA Forum Board to discuss how to get
the wheels TURNING towards a flood alert solution. If the Erie
Canal Dams are here to stay, lets live with them safely, and if
they break, let's figure out a way to let everyone we care about
know. It's an opportunity to SOLVE a problem, be a part of the
solution, and help your community.
What would an Erie Canal Flood Warning System look like? Blue
Alert Ideas Wanted.
If you want to post and JOIN the CONVERSATION, you need to
signup & join the Erie Canal Neighbors Association Forum. We
won't bite, let your ideas be heard... help make the
Neighborhood a safe & happy place to Live. Help solve the answer
to the question of how our lives will be changed after the Erie
Canal Dams are Repaired... and seems to the ECNA, there is STILL
another Safety Issue to solve.
Join the ECNA, Fill out the Form... Be part of the Solution.
Yea,. thought you'd get away without homework... ALL ideas have
to meet the REQUIREMENTS that are already there just start
educating yourself on LIVING with Dams.
GREAT STARTING PLACE -
HTML https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1845-25045-7939/fema_p_956_living_with_dams.pdf
#Post#: 203--------------------------------------------------
Re: Looking for Ideas & Conversation for an Erie Canal Flood
Warning System - Blue Alert
DIR By: Michael Caswell
Date: December 18, 2018, 8:52 am
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Canal Emergency Statewide Operations Center (866) 691-8282.
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