Orangetown Highway Department Prepares for Heavy Rains

The snow is gone, but the weather-related challenges just keep on coming.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Rockland County beginning Thursday morning and running through Friday morning. This less than a week after heavy rains caused flooding throughout Rockland County Sunday.

The problems were relatively light in Pearl River and the rest of Orangetown Sunday, with some flooding on Townline Road and part of Oaktree Road closed.

The Orangetown Highway Department went through preparations for potential flooding this week, though much of it was standard procedure.

"I think we’re in fine shape," said Orangetown Highway Superintendent James Dean. "We replenished our stack of sand bags today. If we have flooding issues, we can help by supplying sand bags."

Dean said that his department breaks Orangetown into six draining territories and sends crews to check on each one.

"We have a list of critical spots we go to before a storm and during storms," Dean said. "We open pipes or drains in low areas. We check those to make sure they are all functioning.

Check back with Patch for updates on the weather and any news related to flooding.