ORLEANS COUNTY, N.Y. (WBEN) – Despite beautiful weather on Monday, communities by Lake Ontario remain on edge because of the looming threat of flooding caused by the lake.
Congressman Chris Collins was in Orleans County and pushed for the U.S. Senate to confirm the three new appointees for the International Joint Commission, the body tasked with regulating the highs and lows of the Lake Ontario water levels.
"It's safe to say more than half of all the departments in government are not properly staffed today," Collins said. "That's because of the holdup in the senate from judges moving on down. We've paid the price for our three appointments, which I helped the president select over two years ago."
Collins said that he is optimistic that the appointments will be confirmed by noting that some of the changes in that process include a shortened window of debate from 30 hours to two.
Flooding along the Lake Ontario shoreline has been at the front of resident's minds since 2017, when record highs caused extensive damage to property and infrastructure. New York State spent $100 million in 2017 in repairs. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo and emergency officials said that communities are better prepared to respond to the flooding compared to two years ago, but that the International Joint Commission must find a way to solve the flood situations in New York State and Canada.
"This year we're stuck," Collins said. "We're stuck with higher water levels deliberately manipulated by Plan 2014. It's May. There's no way to get the water out of the lake today. It obviously goes into the St. Lawrence and we've got flooding in Montreal. We just have to keep our fingers crossed."
The congressman also said he remains close with the Trump administration despite his current indictment on insider trading and lying to the FBI.
Niagara County has yet to declare a state of emergency along, though Emergency Services Director Jonathan Schultz said he and other officials continue to monitor flooding.
"At the end of this week the winds aren't looking very good," Schultz said while adding the winds will increase the flooding. "This past weekend we worked with NYSDOT down in Olcott rebuilding a berm for when they do come this week."
