When it rains in Wawarsing, it pours -- from both above and below, thanks to the leaky Delaware Aqueduct, which has been flooding the basements of a few dozen local houses with depressing regularity for years.
During the most recent floods last week, when the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was funnelling over 800 gallons a day through the Aqueduct, Wawarsing homeowners were once again living in "a neighborhood of hoses," with perpetually-flooded basements and powerful sump pumps running 24/7.
Yesterday, Ulster County legislator Terry Bernardo posted a video of the recent floods on YouTube. In it, you can see jets of New York City drinking water actually shooting through cracks in the basements of the homes.
A nice touch: The video closes to the disco strains of Donna Summers' "Enough Is Enough." Indeed.
Hat tip to Adam Bosch of the Times Herald-Record, who's been covering the Wawarsing issue extensively.
