Highland Falls, N.Y.—DeeDee Moreno, a big-hearted craft store owner, walked down Main Street in the village of Highland Falls after the water had ceded and checked on everyone she saw.
Nearly nine inches of rainfall on Sunday, July 9, turned the once babbling Highland Brook into a roaring river, which swept the central business district and pushed parked cars over a fence down to a lower lot.
Highland Brook in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023, the day after nearly nine inches of rainfall. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
The water also found its way into the basements of storefronts along the commercial street, including a laundry shop owned by a Korean family.
Moreno stopped by to inquire after a laundry worker, who asked if she could get the local fire department to come and pump water out of the basement.
Inside the store, residents in a nearby low-income apartment were drying out personal items affected by the flooding.
Moreno replied that she would stop by the fire department and make sure that the laundry shop was on the list.
Andy's Restaurant owner Eddie Saavedra surveyed damages in the basement after a historic flood in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
The basement of the business next door, Andy’s Restaurant, was also flooded, with damaged heating systems and supplies.
The total loss was at least $10,000, according to the restaurant owner Eddie Saavedra.
But the main-level business was running as usual, with Saavedra cooking meals behind the counter for both clients and people in need due to the flooding.
Historic Flooding
Highland Falls, a small village of fewer than 4,000 residents that stretches along the western bank of the Hudson River, was among the worst hit by rainfall in the region.
West Point Pizza on Main Street in Highland FallsFall, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
The village is known as the gateway to West Point, a main employer in the area.
In terms of Orange County, the village and surrounding communities were the epicenter of flooding.
There was at least one fatality, a 35-year-old Highland Fall woman who was swept away by water as she attempted to flee her house.
Parts of several county routes and a major interstate highway were completely washed out.
A broken metal fence, which was pushed apart by a historic flood the day before, in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
Total damages are estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars, according to Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus in a video address.
He issued a state of emergency on Sunday to expand municipalities’ capacity to cope with the flood.
Willie Watts, a Highland Falls resident for 40 years, said the flooding was the worst he'd ever seen.
On Sunday, he stood by his front yard fence monitoring the water level as rain continued to fall, ready to hop into his car and take off if need be.
Willie Watts stood in his front yard on Main Street in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
“The water came rushing down Mountain Avenue and found its own way down to the Hudson River. It was about six feet high,” Watts told The Epoch Times. “It got really bad, and it just continued.”
Luckily, the water rushed down the slanted avenue and bypassed his house, which was only a dozen feet away from the roaring flood.
On July 10, Gov. Kathy Hochul came down to the village of Highland Falls, surveyed the damage with local officials, and pledged state support in rebuilding affected communities.
The basement of a laundry store on Main Street following a historic flood in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
She warned about the increasing weather irregularities and urged future preparedness.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, New York had experienced drought conditions the past three summers before this year’s flooding.
Last year, the eastern part of Orange County, which contains the Highland Falls area, had a drought so severe that almost no rain fell between mid-June and mid-August.
Maria and Stephen Arnesen on Main Street in the village of Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
That drought left a deep impression on Maria and Stephen Arnesen, a couple who moved up to the county from Fort Lee, New Jersey, just two years ago.
Now, many of their neighbors’ townhomes in Fort Montgomery, a hamlet just south of Highland Falls, are badly damaged by flood water, they told The Epoch Times.
Aid and Recovery
As Moreno walked down Main Street in the village of Highland Falls, she stopped as many residents as she could to tell them about available aid.“Can you spread the word—if anybody needs shelter, water, or hot food, [they can find them at] Sacred Heart Church,” Moreno said to a woman pushing a stroller.
DeeDee Moreno informed a resident about available aid to people impacted by the historic flood on Main Street in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
Since her husband died two years ago, Moreno has used her time to volunteer and help the needy, she said.
When she arrived at the church for water delivery, she met a woman named Evelyn Nazario whose quadriplegic veteran husband urgently needed to be transported to a hospital.
Nazario’s ranch was by a brook in the southern part of the village, and following the flood, mold had began to spread in her house, threatening the health of her physically fragile husband.
Moreno immediately made calls to get help from the emergency services.
Evelyn Nazario sought help from a lady from the village fire department after a historic flood in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
At the Sacred Heart Church, the Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter space for displaced residents with financial help from the county.
“I’ll keep [the shelter] open until you folks stop using it,” Neuhaus said in the video address.
About six people had signed up by Monday late afternoon, according to a Red Cross worker.
James Temple, a regional coordinator of the Red Cross Mass Care Program at Sacred Heart Church in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
As for roads affected by the flooding, village, town, and county public works department workers have been fixing them, as well as staff from the state Department of Transportation.
Neuhaus announced on July 10 that the county had passed the rescue mode and entered the recovery phase.
Both Neuhaus and New York State Sen. James Skoufis called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare the Highland Falls region a major disaster area to unlock financial assistance.
Water supplies at the Sacred Heart Church following a historic flood in Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 10, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
Skoufis also pleaded with Hochul to sign one of his bills into law that would make insurance company process disaster-related claims faster.
Rep. Patrick Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) issued a joint letter on July 10 urging FEMA to approve any disaster declaration request out of New York State.
