DPW works to reopen roads

Warwick — “It’s been crazy,” said Jeff Feagles, Department of Public Works Commissioner for the Town of Warwick. To say the least. Feagles’ department has been on the roads non-stop pumping water, cleaning debris, and repairing and assessing road damage since Sunday’s rains started. And with 180 miles of roads throughout the town, breaks have been few and far between. Areas throughout the town were hit very hard, said Feagles, but some of the hardest hit areas include Greenwood Lake and Pine Island. “Pine Island is still underwater,” said Feagles late Wednesday morning. “And we had a mudslide on Mt. Eve Road.” About 700 yards of dirt and debris ran right across the road in that instance. Towering pine trees stood right in the middle of the road, washed down with the side of the hill. The DPW had that mess cleaned up within the day, Feagles added. And the roads were another story. With so much water having no place to go because culverts were overflowing, roads were damaged. “Road edges were torn up throughout the town,” Feagles said. “Water gets under the roadway and just tears it up. Some roads just weren’t safe.” Many roads were closed, including Glenwood Road, Mt. Eve, Missionland, Oil City Road, and State School Road, the last two suffered some of the worst flooding in the town. By Wednesday afternoon, both of these roads were still closed. Sections of County Route 1 were also closed. The water was higher than the fence at the golf course on Glenwood Road, said Feagles. Warwick Police Lt. Thomas Maslanka said that even though roads were closed, some motorists went around roadblocks or just moved the barricades to get by. “Water has continued to rise even after the rain has stopped,” said Maslanka. “Culverts have washed out. That is why roads are closed. But we had a few incidents where vehicles got stuck in the water on roads that were closed.” Maslanka said about a dozen summonses were issued for going down closed roads. “It doesn’t matter what type of vehicle you drive,” Maslanka said. “You will get stuck in water that is too high.” He said one truck driver went to Skinner Lane to pick up a trailer full of onions. “We had to fish the driver out of the truck,” he said. “The truck was just bobbing in the water.” Many people ignored the state of emergency issued by the town, he said, when only essential emergency vehicles are supposed to be on the roads. “People should heed the warning,” he added. “That’s why we use the Hometown Alert System.” Feagles, too, shakes his head in disbelief. “We had barricades moved. We put them out there for the safety of the public,” said Feagles. “We watched people drive through two feet of water. That’s nuts. We close the roads not to inconvenience people. We do it to protect them.” Now, though, most roads have been reopened, except for a few. Repairs have been made to many, but there is still lots of work to do. “Now we have a huge cleanup on top of our regular work that gets done in the spring and summer,” Feagles said. And, although his department did get some complaints about the road closings, they also got many calls of thanks from residents who were grateful that their roads had been cleared so quickly. “These guys just went and went and went,” said Feagles. “No complaining, no breaks. We are pretty caught up now. And we do appreciate when people call up to say thank you.”