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BRONXVILLE, N.Y. Irene left her mark in Bronxville leaving in her wake emergency rescues of stranded homeowners, power outages and devastating floods in and around the Bronxville School.
Eastchester firefighters rescued two Bronxville families from their flooded homes early Sunday morning.
EFD Lt. Dan Grogan and firefighter Chris Gruber used an emergency raft to rescue a couple who wished to remain anonymous and the Weiner family, both of whom live in private homes on Parkway Road in Bronxville.
Steven Weiner, his wife Diane and their son Steven were grateful to be taken to dry land.
"At about 5:30 a.m. when I got up the basement was flooded but it was not too bad," Weiner said.
But by 10 a.m. the water was up past the Weiner's front door.
"We have been here for seven years and we usually get flooded, but never like this," Weiner said.
A short distance away Bronxville Board of Education President Jim Hudson was visibly upset over the condition of the Bronxville Schools.
The playing fields were completely underwater, with just the top row of bleachers visible.
Flood waters covered the parking lot and part of the doors on the elementary school side of the building.
Hudson said school district personnel worked hard, moving furniture to higher classrooms and stacking sandbags in an effort to keep flood waters at bay.
But Eastchester Fire Chief Michael Grogan said the fire Department had to go into the building to turn off the fire alarms, which are located about six feet off the floor and were completely under water.
Hudson, who was joined by Trustee Rick Rugani, said the district just finished a $12 million repair and renovation project designed to curtail flood damage to the school.
"We worked with the village to improve the drainage, but the water is supposed to drain into the Bronx River and if that starts to flood a valve will close and the water has nowhere to go," Hudson explained.
With only nine days before school starts, Hudson said he is hoping some of the measures put into place for the repair project, such as tile walls on the first floor, will help school open on time.
"If I could, I would go in there myself to help get the building ready for school to open," Hudson said.
In addition to concerns about the schools, neither Rugani nor Hudson had power in their own homes on Sunday morning
Bronxville police said they had a steady flow of calls on a line set up specifically to deal with issues around Irene. Many of the calls were about a number of power outages throughout the village.
Street lights were out and many residents, including Ashley Hanrahan, had no electricity. "We lost power this morning," Hanrahan said.
The Village remains under a State of Emergency, which has been in effect as per Mayor Mary Marvin since Saturday at noon. Residents who have concerns may call the emergency hotline at 914-337-0508.
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