BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — City crews provided emergency bulk trash pickup Monday, after Thursday night's flooding damaged homes and businesses in the area.
Some residents and business owners experienced up to approximately 3ft of flooding in their basements.
"It was coming in through the pipes, the walls, the windows, the door, down the stairs," said Kamra Phillips Rose, who lives on Hertel Ave. The flood water ruined many belongings stored in her basement, including furniture, clothes and a guitar.
Kamra and her neighbors watched city crews clear away the damaged items, Monday, as they made their way along the street.
The city tells me they logged 286 flood-related 311 cases, but added that case count does not represent the total number of people affected, since collection also covers properties within the designated [pickup] areas whose residents may not have submitted a 311 report.
Small business along the corridor also continue to asses the damage. The basement of Wine on Hertel was flooded, with owner Justin Hofschneider telling 7 News he lost around $4,000 in inventory.
"So a good chunk of change in losses," Hofschneider said. "Then cleaning services that I need to hire to come and professionally clean - that's a whole other cost involved."
WATCH: City crews help flood cleanup efforts in North Buffalo
To help cover those costs, Hofschneider is pushing New York State to provide a sales tax break to businesses impacted by the floods.
"It's money that gets forwarded to the state on a quarterly basis, I assume it's not gonna hurt them too much if a few hundred businesses around Western New York that were affected kept that money," Hofschneider explained.
I put Hofschnieder's proposal to the City of Buffalo. They responded via email saying the state provides for a "very specific set of sales tax holidays and they can only be applied at a county-wide level, so unfortunately this is not an option."
They added: "Our immediate focus is helping residents clean up by offering our emergency collection and ensuring the damage to homes and businesses is fully documented. In addition to the emergency collection, we are encouraging affected residents and business owners to complete New York State’s Damage Self-Report Survey."
Those reports will help officials determine whether the area may qualify for a federal Small Business Administration disaster declaration, which could make low-interest disaster loans available to eligible residents and businesses.
A city spokesperson reported some collection locations remain outstanding Monday evening, and crews will continue working through them on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Residents who have already placed eligible flood-damaged items at the curb but have not had a crew on their street should leave those items out.
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