Niagara County Public Safety Leaders Call for State of Emergency

OLCOTT—Top leaders from Niagara County’s government, joined by federal, state and town officials, converged on Olcott Harbor today to declare a State of Emergency in Niagara County as rising lake levels are pushed higher heading into the weekend.

The 2 p.m. press conference included information about preparation for anticipated flooding along the Lake Ontario shore and a briefing and Q&A with public safety officials including County Manager Rick Updegrove, Sheriff James R. Voutour, and Director of Emergency Services Jonathan Schultz.

Legislature Vice Chairman Clyde L. Burmaster, R-Ransomville, Infrastructure and Facilities Committee Chairman John Syracuse, R-Newfane, and Community Safety and Security Committee Chairman Dave Godfrey, R-Wilson, were also on-hand.

The county has been monitoring the lake level situation since late last week, when Voutour and Godfrey asked boaters to observe a 500-foot “no wake zone” off the Lake Ontario shore. Syracuse and Schultz joined Supervisor Tim Horanburg, R-Newfane, touring sites around Olcott Harbor late Tuesday, and shortly after that, Voutour ordered the Sheriff’s Office helicopter into the air to obtain aerial images of homes and key infrastructure threatened by the rising waters of Lake Ontario.

Public safety officials decided to begin preparations for a likely declaration of a State of Emergency at a 3 p.m. Wednesday meeting at the Niagara County Public Safety Training Facility.