Whenever it rains, Valeen Bhat puts on her waders and her signature hot pink raincoat to clear debris from storm drains in Brooklyn. This time of year, there’s a lot.
Fall is for foliage. But foliage falls. And in New York, leaves wreak havoc by clogging storm drains, which can produce devastating flooding. Ms. Bhat, the owner of Private Picassos in Clinton Hill, learned this the hard way a year ago. On a Thursday in October, a sudden downpour inundated her art studio for children, trapping teachers and students, until firefighters rescued them.
With global warming, rain is falling faster and harder, and overwhelming the city’s century-old sewers, most of which were not designed for the furious and swift storms now common in New York.
Since last fall’s deluge, which caused two deaths in the city, Ms. Bhat has been spreading the gospel of leaf clearance. The task is especially crucial in elevated spots, because drains that clog uphill lead to flooding downhill.
Hardly a Cassandra, Ms. Bhat is simply being a responsible neighbor and business owner in the era of climate change, said Lisa F. Garcia, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
“As leaves begin to fall, we appreciate when all New Yorkers step in and do their part by clearing leaves and debris from storm drains near their homes and businesses,” Ms. Garcia said in a statement. “A few minutes of effort can make a real difference.”
Last Halloween Eve, Ms. Bhat was preparing for a pumpkin-carving event. Her son and two others were in an after-school program in the back of the studio, while a little girl played with her nanny in the front. It was a cozy afternoon to be there, especially with the heavy rain outside.
Suddenly, storm water poured down the steps to the basement, pooling behind the studio’s glass door, while sewer water shot through drains inside. Within five minutes, the glass door in the front had cracked, and water was rushing in.
Everyone got out safely, but Ms. Bhat stayed to salvage what she could. Pumpkins and art supplies were bobbing in nearly three feet of water. Another teacher screamed at her to get out of the water, for fear that she would get electrocuted.
“I know why they call it a flash flood now because it does happen so fast,” Ms. Bhat said. “You’re not thinking straight.”
Thirty minutes later, Ms. Bhat’s phone buzzed: It was a flash-flood alert for her neighborhood, a tad late.
Ms. Bhat thought she was prepared; she had already cleared the storm drains that day. And she had flood sensors, a sump pump and a shop vac ready to go.
But the flooding happened too fast. The damage to Private Picassos totaled about $70,000.
Since then, Ms. Bhat has spent thousands of dollars on additional protection measures. For the entrance, there are sand bags and construction barricades, which she painted hot pink and refashioned into flood barriers. She also installed devices in her sinks and drains that block spewing sewer water.
She posts videos on Instagram about flood prevention, and runs a WhatsApp chat for business owners to coordinate clearing the storm drains, particularly the problematic ones uphill and in front of Entre Nous, a French wine bar.
“Valeen really has kind of become the de facto flooding czar for our little intersection of Clinton Hill,” said Allie Prater-Besset, an owner of Entre Nous who has incorporated leaf clearance into the bar’s daily setup.
It’s not enough to clear the storm drains before bad weather, Ms. Bhat said. One must return again and again while it’s raining, because moving water transports more debris. This is when her waders come in handy.
As the weather shifts from dry to wet, Ms. Bhat’s leaf-clearing technique also shifts. Before a storm, she sweeps away the leaves and disposes of them. Once it’s raining, Ms. Bhat resorts to pushing the wet foliage through the storm drain grates.
“I take my broom, I turn it upside down, and I push, because you want to get the leaves out of the way,” she said. “You’ll see a whirlpool form, and the water goes down in two minutes.”
Ms. Bhat has a message for car owners and people who use leaf blowers: Parked vehicles can block access to debris-clogged areas, while the hand-held blowers can send leaves, which should be bagged for sanitation workers to collect, straight into the gutters.
She would like to see the city more consistently perform deep cleaning of storm drains.
“They do come out, and they have that giant claw,” she said. “They use this crazy power washer to flush out the sewer pipes.”
The city inspects more than 1,000 drains before each storm, cleaning the ones that need it, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.
But with 154,000 storm drains and only 47 specialized claw trucks, New York has a supply-and-demand issue. Ms. Bhat and city officials said that being a squeaky wheel helps.
“I have the 311 app on my phone,” Ms. Bhat said. “And I use it regularly.”
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