Less than two weeks after a rainstorm flooded Rye’s roads, and days before a nor’easter is forecast to hit the city this weekend, City Planner Christian Miller presented recommendations Wednesday to Rye’s City Council on an increasingly pressing topic: how to mitigate the damage flooding has throughout the city.
City officials have been taking a hard look at flood laws since FEMA approved a grant in November 2023. The suggestions presented Wednesday come from DCMC Partners, a flood management consultant hired by the city.
“The idea is to make your community more resilient, and that’s what the flood law principally does,” Miller said at a special meeting in City Hall.
DCMC suggested potential changes to the city’s flood laws, including requiring any new homes built within flood zones to elevate their properties, as well as those being rebuilt after substantial damage. Nonresidential properties could use alternative measures of floodproofing.
Areas near Blind Brook, Beaver Swamp, and the Long Island Sound shore are among those most vulnerable.
“If you’re in a flood zone and you build a new house, you can’t have a basement,” Miller said. “You can have storage and a garage, but it has to be designed so it has flood vents so water can come in and water can come out.”
Miller identified elevating homes as the best option for reducing flood damage. DCMC recommends homes in flood zones raise their living spaces above expected flood levels, and engineers would need to confirm the construction would not raise floodwater levels. Additional breakaway construction in the event of extreme flooding would also need to be considered.
“Since those 2007 storms and floods, the entire environment changed. People now understand ‘I live in a flood zone.’ We’re not trying to hide it anymore,” Miller said. “In fact, properties are now sold sometimes with plans approved to elevate the home. That’s how much the hazard is now baked into the purchase of a property.”
Miller was adamant these changes would not affect the character of the property or neighborhood, which has been a frequent topic of discussion during the city’s six-month building moratorium.
Some city council members emphasized that not all Rye homeowners who live in a flood zone can afford elevating their property as a preventative measure. Others pointed to flooding as a longstanding risk of living in the area and the need for residents to adapt to it.
“You’re learning to live with water,” Miller said. “Not fight it.”
Miller presented a graph that showed all FEMA claims filed between 1977 and 2024 in Rye. According to the data, there were relatively few flood claims in the decade leading up to the mid-2000s, which may have created a sense of complacency around flooding in Rye.
“I think regulators forgot about flooding, real estate professionals forgot about flooding, buyers of homes forgot about flooding,” Miller said. “That all changed really in 2004, 2007 and 2010. There were two storms in 2007. One in March, when people had filled up their basements, and then six weeks later, it had filled up their first floors.”
With the recent slew of summer storms fresh in the city’s mind, Assistant City Manager John Sullivan said officials will actively update residents on the upcoming storm this weekend, using social media and the CodeRED program, where people can sign up for city-wide emergency alerts.
“We’re really looking closely at this one,” Sullivan said. “We want to put out messaging, but we also want to put out the right messaging. We will be reaching out with accurate and detailed advice.”
Sullivan urged residents to avoid driving on submerged roads and to look out for downed power lines, and Mayor Josh Nathan reminded people to not put themselves in harm’s way to take photos of the flood.
While major long-term changes remain in the works, Nathan expressed confidence in the city’s preparedness for storms in the immediate future, including the use of drones and rescue boats.
“The city has it covered,” Nathan said.
Direct updates and instructions regarding the incoming storm are expected to be released by Friday.
Read the full letter DCMC Partners sent Rye’s City Council below:
