Flood damage restoration in the Bronx is mostly about rain. The borough has shoreline, from City Island to Throgs Neck, but a Bronx flood often starts with a downpour that the sewers cannot carry: water comes up through basement drains, pours down areaway stairs and spreads across ground-floor apartments, laundry rooms and storefronts. This page covers how that happens, what tenants and owners each do, and the order of the cleanup.
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Rain floods inland too
After Hurricane Ida in 2021, NYC Health drew a clear lesson: unlike Sandy’s mostly coastal flooding, rainfall flooding “can happen anywhere in the city,” with low-lying areas and basement apartments at higher risk. Ida’s rain fell faster than it could drain away, at up to 3.5 inches an hour in some areas, against a sewer capacity of 1.75 inches an hour, and the National Weather Service issued its first-ever flash flood emergency warning for New York City.
The Department of Environmental Protection names the two kinds of flooding that follow: sewer backups, when heavy rain beyond the pipes’ capacity overflows through manholes, catch basins and basement sewer connections, and street flooding, when blocked catch basins leave water pooling in the street. DEP cleans and maintains about 150,000 catch basins across the city and asks residents to report a clogged one to 311.
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Basement and ground-floor apartments
NYC Health reports that 10 of the 14 people who died from causes related to Ida drowned in unregulated (illegal) basement apartments. If you live below street level and water starts coming in during a storm, leave for higher ground first and deal with belongings later. The basement flooding guide and the post on basement apartment flooding go through the safety steps.
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Tenants and owners: who does what
In a Bronx apartment building, a flood usually involves the landlord as well as the tenant. NYC Health says owners of buildings with three or more apartments are required to keep tenants’ homes free of mold, including safely repairing underlying problems like water leaks, and Local Law 55 of 2018 requires them to fix the conditions that cause mold and pests. Where more than 10 square feet of mold must be fixed in a building with 10 or more apartments, owners must use New York State Department of Labor licensed mold assessment and remediation workers.
- Tenants: tell the landlord or super in writing and keep a copy. If a leak or mold is not fixed, or the work is not done safely, NYC HPD says to file a complaint online or call 311.
- Tenants’ belongings: FloodHelpNY says flood damage to a renter’s contents is not likely to be covered by renter’s insurance. Check your own policy or agent.
- Owners: the building’s cellar, boiler, electrical service and common areas, and, under the mold rules above, safely repairing leaks and the conditions that cause mold in apartments.
- Everyone: report flooding manholes and water on streets or sidewalks to 311.
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The cleanup order
Water that came up through a drain is sewage, and the IICRC S500 standard counts it as Category 3 water regardless of how it looks. The EPA’s advice for damage caused by sewage or other contaminated water is to call in a professional with experience in it.
- Make it safe: power off from a dry place, or by an electrician, as the CDC advises; never switch power while standing in water.
- Wait for the rain to stop and the water to stop rising before pumping.
- Photograph every wet room and item.
- Pump or extract the water; remove soaked porous materials.
- Clean and disinfect hard surfaces.
- Dry within 24 to 48 hours, as the EPA advises, to prevent mold.
More detail is in sewage cleanup in NYC, flood cleanup in NYC and flood water pumping.
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Keeping the next storm out
For owners of houses, DEP makes it mandatory to disconnect downspouts from the sanitary sewer and send the water at least 6 feet from the foundation. DEP’s “Rainfall Ready: A Homeowner’s Guide,” published in 12 languages, has more ways to protect a home from flooding and sewer backups. The basement waterproofing guide covers backwater valves and drainage.
Flood damage in the Bronx? Send the form with what happened and the kind of building, and an independent local provider can contact you.
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Questions people ask
Why do Bronx streets and basements flood in heavy rain?
Rain heavier than the sewers can carry overflows through catch basins and basement connections, and blocked catch basins leave water in the street. Report clogged catch basins to 311.
My landlord has not fixed flood damage. What can I do?
Notify the landlord in writing. If the hazard is not fixed or the work is not done safely, NYC HPD says to file a complaint online or call 311.
Is water from a basement drain dangerous?
Treat it as sewage. The IICRC S500 standard counts wasteline backflows as Category 3 water, and the EPA advises a professional for sewage cleanup.
NowWater in the building?
Tell us where and what happened, and an independent local provider can contact you.