Elmont Online

The Elmont Fire Department (EFD) was alerted on August 14 at 4:34 a.m. regarding a car that was stuck in the water at the Central Avenue underpass of the Southern State Pkwy in North Valley Stream. This area typically floods during heavy rains, and the Elmont FD responds to calls in that vicinity between six and ten times a year. On Sunday morning, a van was completely submerged.  There were conflicting reports about someone being trapped inside the van. The water levels were so high that firefighters were completely under water when they went in to check the vehicle.

The Elmont FD made a special call to the Lawrence Cedarhurst Fire Department who brought a boat to search the van. Before they arrived, Captain Rob Schriefer of Elmont’s H & L Co. #1 swam to the car and confirmed that no one was inside.  When Lawrence Cedarhurst arrived, they deployed their boat to do a second search of the vehicle, confirming that no one was in it.

Images of "The Sump" on Dutch Broadway after the rain this week. This area was converted to a park several years ago and continue to be a source of angst during the rainy seasons.

At 5:20 a.m. that same day, the Elmont FD received a second call about a car stuck in water at Donavan Street and "N" street.  Available companies responded to find a car in the water with the street flooded, but the person had already gotten out of the car.

At 5:41 a.m., EFD received a report of a car stuck at the location of the Southern State Parkway and Cross Island Parkway. Available units found a car stuck and removed the person in knee deep water. Units found an unrelated car accident near the disabled car and one person was transported to Winthrop Hospital by Elmont FD ambulance.

Later in the day, Elmont FD responded to a car stuck in the parking lot of a shopping area on Hempstead Turnpike around 1:30 p.m. The driver was able to get out of the car, but had attempted to drive through a huge area of water and misjudged how deep it was. Large parking lots are prone to flooding because the large surface of pavement is not always level; water will pool in a certain spot, and if the drains in the lots get blocked by debris, there is nowhere for the water to go.

Motorists must be aware when there is an extreme rain storm, street flooding is going to happen. Motorists must understand that their cars are going to get stuck in deep water, even SUV's. The EFD says do not attempt to go through large flooded streets.

The Elmont FD also says if you have a storm drain in front of your home or business, it is important to keep it clear of debris.