Caren Franzini, Lambertville
Over 20 years ago my husband and I bought our home in Lambertville on South Union Street. We were told at the time we had to buy flood insurance as we were in a 100-year flood zone. Since the last flood in the area was in 1955, we thought this was something we would not experience in our lifetime. Then came the first flood in September 2004 followed by the second flood in April 2005 and the third flood in June 2006. Who would have thought we would have three floods in the city within two years.
The floods caused tremendous financial and emotional hardship to our entire neighborhood as well as major expenses to the city. Our neighbors lost their home, some residents had to leave their homes for weeks and some are still repairing their homes.
Through each flood we witnessed the compassion, caring and warmth of the residents of Lambertville. There was an outpouring of assistance to our neighborhood, including business owners who offered to store our food in their freezers, merchants who provided cleaning supplies, bed and breakfast owners who offered us places to stay, friends who offered their homes and neighbors who helped move all our belongings out and then back into our homes.
In addition to these wonderful friends and neighbors, we had help during each flood from city employees and volunteers in town. Yes, they are our friends and neighbors, too. We thank the city firefighters who spent endless hours pumping out basements, the police officers who patrolled our neighborhood when we were evacuated for days, the municipal workers who tirelessly cleaned the streets of mud and debris from the river, the emergency volunteer workers and our mayor and City Council members who walked the neighborhood to personally ensure things were being handled.
The city leaders saw first hand the destruction and cost of the floods to Lambertville. They were proactive in bringing in local and federal flood experts for advice as to how to address this issue. They analyzed several options and determined to pursue the floodgates and pumps at Swan Creek in an effort to protect and preserve the adjacent neighborhood. To determine the cost and submit applications for funding they must complete the engineering studies to develop the design and construction cost estimates.
We applaud the city’s commitment to continue the flood mitigation work. It is impossible to prevent a flood. However, it is critical to implement improvements to mitigate the impact and ultimate costs to the city and the neighborhood if another flood were to occur.

