Residents in Steuben County are still cleaning up after floods caused by Debby’s remnants

Canisteo, New York – Steuben County residents are cleaning up the damage caused by last week’s water from Hurricane Debby.

On Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the region and made state support available, including help for homeowners submitting insurance claims.

Jennifer Hurlburt has spent years residing in her Canisteo house. She claims she never would have thought she would have to wait to be pulled out of her house’s second-story floodwaters.

It was excessively wet. Hurlburt stated, “I went to the second story and at least talked to him (my husband) because it was coming up onto the porch and on the porch.” “I called my daughter in the worst possible way to let her know where I was, to say “goodbye,” and to let her know that I had no idea what would happen. I spent two and a half hours in the house. I was saved by boat.”

Hurlburt and several other Canisteo residents saw heavy flooding on Friday due to the remains of Hurricane Debby. She mentioned that there have been previous instances of strong storms in the region.

Hurlburt said, “Nearly three years to the day that we did this, and we recovered.” “The damage wasn’t that great. Not like this time, we had a little water in our basement, maybe three feet or so, and we may have lost a few items. This time was really frightening.”

Hurlburt was saved from her flooded property by the arrival of the Canisteo Fire Company.

According to Ken Forenz, deputy director of Steuben County Emergency Services, “Those teams were requested to come in the area to stage in different locations and then respond to other locations, where we had a number of people trapped in houses that were surrounded by water, as well as people in sinking vehicles or stuck in the water.” In order to begin gathering data on the needs of the people, we are collaborating with neighborhood human services organizations. Numerous non-governmental or religious organizations will also be joining us to aid with cleanup and muck removal.”