Borough Flooding Victim is Pol’s Guest at State of the Union

In September 2021, unprecedented ooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida devastated Queens. Lives were lost and homes and property sustained extensive damage, and more rainfall over the past year caused additional ooding throughout the borough.

Meng brought Allison Sesso to President Joe Biden’s speech. She is a long-time resident of Forest Hills whose house on Selfridge Street, which she had moved into two weeks before Ida struck, was severely ooded during the storm. Water lled her basement, and several feet of water also gushed into the rst oor. It destroyed much of her home’s interior, furniture, personal belongings and even a car, costing her well over $100,000 in damage.

By Forum Sta

A Forest Hills ooding victim was U.S. Rep. Grace Meng’s (D-Flushing) guest at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

“Stories like Allison’s are heartbreaking and it’s something that many others living in Queens were forced to endure during Ida and other storms,” Meng said. “A er Ida, I visited a ected constituents all across my district and saw the destruction rsthand. From tackling the impacts of climate change to upgrading local sewers and catch basins, this problem in our borough must be addressed, especially with the threat of more ooding occurring in the future. Having Allison as my guest will help keep a light shined on this urgent issue and further underscore the need for our city, state and federal governments to take action. I thank Allison for accepting my invitation to a end, and for sharing her harrowing ordeal.”

Sesso added, “Queens residents need upgrades to our sewer systems that will prevent the loss of life, destruction of our homes, emotional anguish and nancial uncertainty caused by increasingly common extreme rain events. I look forward to seeing progress on these needed infrastructure improvements.”