‘Existential threat’: Corte Madera holds flood recovery workshop

A forum on the recent flooding problems in Corte Madera drew about 80 residents to find out how the town plans to proceed.

The workshop at the Cove School last week included a map marked with a dot for each property affected by tidal flooding in the first days of the year. As the meeting went on, more and more dots filled the map as residents added their homes.

Roughly half of the residents at the workshop indicated that they had been affected by the flood in some way. In a town survey online, most of the 17 respondents reported damage to their garages, crawl spaces and vehicles.

Sean and Lauren Cosgrave, whose Harbor Drive home sustained flood damage, shared their story at the workshop to illustrate the ordeal for homeowners.

“I thought the cleanup wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s taken weeks to get close to back to normal, and we still have work to do as well,” Sean Cosgrave said. “I want people to understand that if the bottom of their house got flooded like ours, they’re looking at weeks of recovery and it could be even longer if more houses are flooded as well.”

Town officials discussed proposed actions to address the flooding risk in vulnerable areas over the next five to 10 years. They included seeking state and federal aid for repairing damage and raising homes; improving and raising berms around Marina Village; collaborating with regional agencies on larger-scale projects like marsh preservation; and identifying areas along Mariner Cove for possible flood barriers.

“If all these grant opportunities don’t pan out, we may need to look at other funding sources to pay for these pretty significant flood improvements,” said Chris Good, the director of public works. “So that may be the next conversation later this year.”

The town has secured funding to conduct a topographic survey of the Marina Village berm to determine its weak points.

Nathan Blomgren, chair of the flood board, addressed the high cost of a longer-term solutions like levees, which have been put into place in other shoreline communities. He cited a levee improvement project in Foster City that prompted a $90 million bond measure.

“I just want everyone to think about the fact that we can’t just decide to build a levee that’s going to protect neighborhoods without making major financial planning,” he said.

Other residents expressed frustration about what they saw as the town’s lack of preparation for the January flooding or its lack of urgency on short-term planning.

“I’m speaking tonight because I wanted to express my sense that we are facing an existential threat as a community and despite best efforts things are moving faster than we are currently,” said resident Jeff Rabkin.

Rabkin said the community faces the possibility of becoming uninsurable because of the flood risk.

“I say that in the spirit of encouraging you and everyone in this room to find another gear and recognize this is an emergency and we do not have 10 years,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything in these slides that suggest there’s going to be any significant changes in the next 10 years. And if that’s the truth, I think we lose.”

The Cosgraves said they also are worried about insurability but said the workshop offered some hope.

“I think that the call to action is pretty clear and evident based on Mother Nature’s impact on the community,” Lauren Cosgrave said.