Homeowners in Bridgeport affected by the frequent flooding of the Rooster River can tap into a $42 million lifeline from the state.
State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) used her position as the Senate chair of the Housing Committee and the Bonding Subcommittee to help secure the money.
Moore said she supported the cause ever since she became aware of the damage caused to homes by the flooding of Rooster River and Ox Brook during her first campaign for her seat in 2008.
“When you go out and you see how people are living, and their properties, and I got to say, the houses that I visited were older people,” she said. “The woman I met the first time, she was in a wheelchair, and she was just totally disgusted that people had been talking about this forever.”
The river has flooded so many times it has its own flood control project.
“And when the infrastructure was built nobody thought of having this many houses with this many people living in such a concentrated area. That makes a big difference and again how old this stuff is,” Moore said.
"As you go down deeper as the water backs out, their properties are just totally damaged, they would never be able to sell them,” she added.
The state money would go for continued flood mitigation and to buy out some of the homeowners.
Between 70 to 100 homes might be affected, according to officials.
About $17 million of the funding would be available in 2024, and $25 million in 2025.
The Rooster River runs through Bridgeport’s North End along its border with Fairfield and extends southward into Black Rock Harbor and Long Island Sound through the Ash Creek Estuary.
