For many centuries, the U.S citizens in the Southern Tier did not only live with floods but also died in the floods. The historic flood disasters in the county are the Punpkin Floods of 1786, 1817 and 1860, the Big Flood of 1857, the Great Inundation of 1833 and the Tremendous Flood of 1861 (Nelson 1966). Through 20th century a]to date, the county still experiences floods. The effects of floods in Chemung include deaths, destruction of property, bad economy, and the overbank deposition on the county’s floodplain which has continued to accelerate for the last one century.
The floods in the county have also had a significant human interference which has is still evident to date. Other than causing deaths and destruction of property, the floods in the Chemung have also had a negative effect on the county’s economic development. Such floods have often been immense that have attracted two presidential disaster declaration. Also, the floods in the county have been both as a result of natural rains and human interference with the environment. People clearing of land and cultivation have been noted to increase erosion, runoff and the height of floods within the Chemung Valley. Moreover, the continuous flooding has also been associated with more intense flooding, rapid overbank deposition in the county’s floodplains. Such effects of flooding are the reason for more mitigation initiatives in the county (Barnes-Svarney 2002). Hence, the effects of floods in Chemung County are the loss of lives, destruction of private and public property, loss of life and a slow economy.
Chemung County is in the Southern Tier Region of the State of New York. The county was named after an American village in 1779. The county’s major town is Elmira. Most analysis and findings confirm that the county together with its municipalities have for many years been experiencing recurring hazards and is also continuously faced with imminent hazards. For centuries, floods have become part of the lives of the Chemung County’s residents. The county has experienced numerous historical floods, for example, the Punpkin Floods of 1786, 1817 and 1860, the Big Flood of 1857, the Great Inundation of 1833 and the Tremendous Flood of 1861.
Therese historic floods killed hundreds and displaced more than 100,000 residences (Nelson 1966). Due to series of flooding in the region, in April 2011, the First presidential disaster declaration was accorded Chemung County. At that time the flash flooding in various towns in Chemung county had resulted in massive losses. Millions of dollars were lost and after both private property and public infrastructure were destroyed. The storm cycle at that time extended up to May (Evans & Grumm 2014). Unfortunately, since the storms were not enjoined in the presidential declaration, municipalities in the region were left to bear over 300 thousand dollars damage costs from the storm.
The second Declaration came later in September 2011 after the Tropical Storm Lee struck again by this time in the southern, eastern part of Chemung County. The storm caused extreme flooding thus damaging both private and public property. The village of Wellsburg suffered severely after approximately 60 homes were severely damaged. Moreover, the towns of Baldwin and Chemung suffered damaged bridges, culverts, and roads. What followed were pockets of flash flooding around other parts of the county which caused minor damaged of public amenities like roads and culverts in many towns (Gitro, s & Grumm 2014).
Hence, after the floods, it was estimated that the Tropical Storm had caused the Chemung county over five million dollars. For example, just between the period of 1978 to 1997, the National Flood Insurance program had paid about 561 insurance claims in Chemung County at the cost of 2.5 million dollars. That represents only about $250,000 insurance claims per year which were a mere fraction of the flood-damaged the county incurred every year in that period. It has always been noted that though Chemung is a flood area, not all property owners have purchased flood insurance a problem which has been created by the limitations by the National Flood Insurance Program (Gitro, Evans & Grumm 2014).
Most claims due to the floods have been in Chemung County since 1978. The claims have been in the Town of Big Flats, the City of Elmira, and the Town of Ashland. However, in recent times, claims have taken place in Big Flats, the village of Wellsburg and the Town of Baldwin. Though, it is the Town of Southport and the village of Elmira Heights that is currently facing repetitive property loss. Moreover, because of the floods, before the 2006 County Hazard Mitigation Plan, there was a high number of insurance policies held in the county. Still, the total number of flood claims remain at 119 which is still high as compared to other regions in the United States. The city of Elmira held the highest number of policyholders for flood insurance flood policy. Hence the floods the floods in the regions have increased the cost of insurance policies for its residents and businesses (Gitro, Evans & Grumm 2014).
Unemployment
The floods in the Chemung County have had an impact on the county’s economy. The floods are closely associated with the loss of the county’s industry’s tax base. For instance, the county residences had been consistently relying on the industrial employment from goods-producing industries in the county. However, because of the consistent floods, there was a need to change from rail to road trucks thus negatively affecting business in the county. Also, rail trucks had to be located thus affecting several towns in the region. It has been stated that unemployment rate always rises to 15% when serious floods occur since many major manufacturers and retailers take long before resuming their operations because of the damages they always incur (New York State). Moreover, thousands of jobs have been permanently lost in the county as a result of the floods. Subsequently, the tendency of the floods of often cast doubt to investors who often feel that rebuilding is non-value because of the always imminent disaster by floods. Finally, the effects of the floods have also been the devastating neighborhoods and underutilization of land in the region (Barnes-Svarney 2002).
Reasons for Frequent Flooding in Chemung County
There are fair obvious for consistent flooding in Chemung County. First is the steepness of the slopes in the Chemung Valley and Large upstream watershed areas created by the Cohocton and Canisteo rivers. Also, are the development patterns. For instance, people are developing in flood-prone areas by cutting down vegetation. Upland development and deforestation is consistently increasing the rate of run-off thus clogging streams and wetlands with debris. Such actions tend to increase the risk of flood damage Lawler, D. M. (March 1994). However, it is the natural overflow of the lakes, rivers and streams, the diverting stream channels and flooding of valley bottoms during heavy rains are the primary reasons for continuous flooding in the County of Chemung (Sene 2016).
Flood distribution
The main floodplain in Chemung County does follow the Chemung river. The floodplain is very active in the southern part of Ashland town, the Big flats Valley and down Chemung town. There are also many several floodplains along the streams that lead into Chemung River, Newtown Creek, Town of Van Etten, Cayuta Creek and Seeley Creek (Sene 2016).
Mitigations
The County of Chemong has drawn up some mitigation plan to curb the persistent flooding in the area. The mitigations approaches include:
Land Use: future land use plan for the County of Chemung identifies the areas for future development growth, supported by the type of soil, and appropriate land usage. Such plan is setting the platform for regulatory policies on what development activities can be undertaken in flood plains to avoid future catastrophes during floods. Furthermore, the land use map identifies undeveloped regions where development should be restricted because of environmental issues Sene 2016).
Best Management Practices
The authorities in the region are also curbing activities which disrupt the drainage patterns or runoff to avoid the increase of flooding downstream and slope areas in the event of flooding. The authorities have recognized the negative impact of timber harvesting, agriculture and other activities degrade the environment thus they are encouraging best practices to reduce downstream flooding (Lawler 1994). Such management activities are creating buffers along the streams, appropriate site grading, strip-cropping, soil stabilization, the building of terraces, and constructing diversion ditches (Sene 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion, effects of floods in Chemung County are the loss of lives, destruction of private and public property, loss of life and a slow economy. The county has recorded numerous historic floods like the Punpkin Floods of 1786, 1817 and 1860, the Big Flood of 1857, the Great Inundation of 1833 and the Tremendous Flood of 1861. The subsequent floods have caused the Chemung County several deaths, misplacement of hundreds of thousands, loss of millions of dollars, high employment rate because affected companies take time to recover and reallocation of major industries. The floods have also cost the county high-cost floods insurance policies. Moreover, due to a series of draughts, the county was awarded two presidential disaster declarations. On the other hand, the main causes of floods in are are primarily natural because of the regions flatness and sloppiness. Finally, the consistent flooding has prompted the authorities to form appropriate floods mitigation plans.
References
Barnes-Svarney, P. (2002). Awful Agnes. Weatherwise, 55(3), 38-43.
GITRO, C. M., EVANS, M. S., & GRUMM, R. H. (2014). Two Major Heavy Rain/Flood Events in the Mid-Atlantic: June 2006 and September 2011. Journal of Operational Meteorology, 2(13).
Lawler, D. M. (March 08, 1994). The measurement of riverbank erosion and lateral channel change: A review. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 18, 9, 777-821.
Nelson, J. G. (1966). Man and geomorphic process in the Chemung River Valley, New York, and Pennsylvania. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 56(1), 24-32.
New York (State)., New York (State)., & New York (State). (1972). Lists, reports, statistical printouts, and related materials on land affected by Hurricane Agnes floods.
Sene, K. (2016). Flash floods. In Hydrometeorology (pp. 273-312). Springer, Cham.
