A major storm cleanup was underway as Hudson Valley residents pumped water out of their homes and disposed of debris from their yards and even pools on Monday.

It was a long 24 hours for residents in Cornwall-on-Hudson and throughout Orange County after getting slammed with a massive amount of rain in a short period of time on Sunday.

Rosemary Willkomm and her family have lived in their home in Cornwall-on-Hudson for around 20 years.

Their pool and patio were destroyed in the storm. A fence meant to block runoff from going into their backyard couldn’t withstand the water flow going down Storm King Mountain during Sunday’s heavy rainfall.


What You Need To Know

  • It was a long 24 hours for residents in Cornwall-on-Hudson and throughout Orange County after getting slammed with a massive amount of rain in a short period of time

  • Rosemary Willkomm and her family have lived in Cornwall-on-Hudson for around 20 years. Their pool and patio were destroyed, and a fence meant to block runoff from going into their backyard couldn’t withstand the water flow going down Storm King Mountain during Sunday’s heavy rainfall

  • Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor James Gagliano said he and other officials have been going door to door since Sunday night assisting any way they can

  • Gagliano said he’s working with lawmakers in the area to ensure federal funds are secured to help families in need, and said they’ll also be fixing roads and infrastructure so they can handle storm surges like this one

“Devastation. Upset. How is it going to be repaired? All the hard work that we've done,” Willkomm said.

She said she watched the water rush through her yard beginning around 5 p.m. The basement also got about a foot of water.

“Running, getting sump pumps into our basement, calling family to come over and help us, trying to salvage whatever we could in our yard,” Willkomm said.

Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor James Gagliano said he and other officials have been going door to door since Sunday night assisting any way they can. Willkomm said he’s stopped by their home on Mountain Road several times.

“I have the same problems. I have a basement that's flooded out as well, so I never take things like this lightly. This is, obviously, people's concerns are our concerns. At the government level is to do everything we can to make sure that that we can make people whole again,” Gagliano said.

Willkomm said they experienced some damage to their yard during Hurricane Irene in 2011, but nothing to this extent. Their family, friends and neighbors are now lending a helping hand.

“We're all OK and that our living space is OK. This can all be fixed outside, and even the basement can be easily repaired,” Willkomm said.

Willkomm said they don’t qualify for flood insurance, so they’’ll be relying on FEMA and village of Cornwall-on-Hudson support as their recovery process continues.

Spectrum News 1

Gagliano said he’s working with lawmakers in the area to ensure federal funds are secured to help families in need. He said they’ll also be fixing roads and infrastructure so they can handle storm surges like this one.

Commuters could face potential delays from Amtrak, Metro-North, and the Hudson Valley's bridges and roadways as transportation safety is evaluated.

Late Monday afternoon, the New York State Police announced road closures in Rockland and Orange counties due to the flooding and road damage.

Harriman State Park, Bear Mountain State Park, Bear Mountain Circle, Bear Mountain Bridge, Long Mountain Circle, the Palisades Interstate Parkway north of Exit 14 and the William J. Moreau Popolopen Bridge were closed until further notice.

State Route 9W south is closed from the Bear Mountain Circle through Stony Point. State Route 9W north of State Route 293 is closed. Routes 6 and 293 are open to local traffic of West Point, village of Highland Falls and the town of Highlands. Other motorists are asked to avoid those areas. 

State Transportation Department Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said MTA and Amtrak are evaluating the condition of tracks in the area. The MTA Hudson Line is presently suspended between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie, meaning there is no Amtrak service between the Capital Region and New York City.

The DOT is also evaluating the state of bridges in the area to make sure they’re safe to travel on. There are currently road and bridge closures affecting routes 6 and 9W.

“We know that people are anxious to get back on the road and get back to normal, but we want to make sure that they do that safely," Dominguez said. "So if there's a road that's closed, the reason that it's closed is because we're still working on it and we hope to do that quickly.”

The DOT has deployed 23 bridge inspection teams to evaluate bridges in the Hudson Valley, along with 10 road damage assessment teams to check on state and local roads.