A FEMA funded flood mitigation that included a flood wall and 10 passive floodgates saved Lourdes Hospital.
FloodBreak® Automatic Floodgates were deployed to help protect Lourdes Hospital when the Susquehanna River overflowed its banks and flooded Binghamton NY. Unlike the 2006 Flood that forced the hospital to evacuate patients, Lourdes was able to stay open in 2011 and provide important services.
The floodwall with passive floodgates, built with hazard mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and New York State, protected this vital property from floodwaters that devastated other parts of the city during Tropical Storm Lee. City officials estimated that as many as 2,000 buildings suffered flood damage from the storm.
“As we sat and watched the floodwaters rise and rise and rise, it was interesting. The floodwall itself worked magnificently, the gates operated as expected,” said David Scribner, who is the facilities management director at the hospital. The floodwaters came within 30” but never breached. Read the FEMA Mitigation Best Practices Story
