Ontario County: Flooding repairs will cost millions 

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ontario County administrator Chris DeBolt said on Friday they’re looking at millions of dollars in repairs after Sunday’s flooding.

This is for both private and public properties.

The good news is, the county said all power is restored for all but a handful of homes.

Ontario County leaders met with state and federal partners Friday to discuss finances for damage repair after recent flooding.

DeBolt said it’s all preliminary, and it will take a few weeks until they get determinations on eligibility from FEMA and DHSES. But he said they’re looking at around $5 million dollars to repair public roads and bridges, and “multiple millions” of dollars to repair homes.

DeBolt said they’re also preparing for more rain this weekend. Hopefully nothing as bad as last Sunday, but officials are urging people to be cautious and stock up on sandbags. Pallets of these sandbags were also deployed to the hardest hit neighborhoods along a creek.

Sandbags will continue to be available for residents to pick up outside the Canandaigua City District Administrative Office, at 143 North Pearl Street.

Some beaches in Ontario County remain closed after water tests showed harmful bacteria following the floods. This includes Kershaw Beach.

But some have reopened, including Onanda Park Beach, Deep Run Park and Butler Road Schoolhouse.

The Flood Information Center will open on Monday July 17 at the Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce office on 113 South Main Street.

The Canandaigua Music and Arts Festival is back for its 45th annual year. Organizers say they’ll be hosting it rain or shine.

News10NBC’s Eriketa Cost was there Friday afternoon to check it out.

Eriketa spoke with a festival organizer who is also the director of the city’s downtown business improvement district. She says this is a great opportunity to see all the storefronts on the main drag, and support local businesses who had a hard week from the flooding.

Many had to throw away food after having lost power and some had to wait a few days to get power back on. Organizer Denise Chaapel says she’s been getting a lot of calls from people, wondering if they were still on after Sunday’s flooding. 

She says they most certainly are. 

Even with some rain in the forecast for this weekend, they’ll be going strong. They have the fire department and first responders out to help keep everyone safe. 

Chaapel says this is the largest three day music and arts festival in the region. You’ll find artists doing demonstrations, food vendors, and live music throughout the duration of the festival.

After a tough few days following Sunday’s flooding, Chaapel says this is all about Canandaigua coming back strong.

“Canandaigua is doing fine, we are so fortunate to live in a warm community where everyone takes care of each other,” says Chaapel. “I know there were people the night of the flood calling people affected, saying ‘What do you need? Do you need to stay at our house?'”

“We’ve been doing this for so long we see every kind of weather there is. We work with fire chief and police department to watch which storms come through and such,” says Chaapel.

The festival takes place on the main drag in downtown Canandaigua. They’ll go until 7 p.m. Friday night, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.