Mud on Main Street in Phoenicia. Photo by Aaron Bennett.
What are you seeing out there? Email us reports and photos at editor@watershedpost.com, comment on this post below, weigh in on our Facebook page, tweet us on Twitter, or post a photo to our Flickr group.
For town by town updates, click the town names below:
Road closures as of 8pm:
Rte. 23 in Prattsville was reportedly partially submerged this afternoon, although the road is not officially closed. Use caution.
Rte. 213 and Country Road 25 in the town of Ulster.
Rte. 145 between Frank Hitchcock and Rte. 23 in Cairo is closed.
Rte. 209 in Wawarsing is closed.
Station Rd., High St., Main St., Herdman Rd., Bridge St. and Waterworks Rd. in Phoenicia
Woodland Valley Rd.
Rte. 214 and Silver Hollow in Chichester
Plank Rd. between Phoenicia and Mt. Tremper, Rte. 212 in Mt. Tremper
Broadstreet and Fox Hollows in Shandaken
Rte 28 is closed in Mt. Tremper. Update:Jeremy Blaber reports that as of 8pm, Rt. 28 was opened to one lane of traffic in alternating directions.
(Rte. 30 in Roxbury was closed earlier today but is now open.)
9pm update: Watch out for ice and snow as temps drop tonight.
7:30pm update: NYSEG is reporting gobs of power outages on its website, most of which are in Sullivan County, but some of which are in Delaware County as well.
5pm update: The National Weather Service has issued a flood alert affecting the entire Catskills region until 8pm. From NY-ALERT:
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BINGHAMTON HAS ISSUED A * FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS IN... DELAWARE COUNTY... SULLIVAN COUNTY... * UNTIL 800 PM EST... * AT 400 PM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED HEAVY RAIN FROM EARLIER HAD CAUSED WIDESPREAD MINOR FLOODING PROBLEMS ACROSS DELAWARE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES. THE RONDOUT AT LOWES CORNERS WAS EXPERIENCING MODERATE FLOODING. * SOME LOCATIONS THAT MAY EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE BETHEL... CALLICOON...DAVENPORT...DELHI...DEPOSIT...HANCOCK...HOBART... LIBERTY...LIVINGSTON MANOR...LOCH SHELDRAKE...MARGARETVILLE... MEREDITH...MONTICELLO...ROSCOE...ROXBURY...SIDNEY...STAMFORD AND WALTON
In Andes, Little Dingle Hill Road is closed due to flooding. Via NY-ALERT.
In Denning, Jennifer Grimes reports (with video!) that Sawmill Road has become impassable:
The flood waters coming off the Neversink and crossing Sawmill were already too deep for my Audi. But renters staying at The Lodge, hunters up for the week, came to the rescue with their man truck, dropping Buck and me at the house, where we are now effectively trapped, although in no immediate danger.
But I will say that the river by the post office is a hair’s breadth from overflowing, and the distance between the water and the bottom of the bridge on Hunter Rd, where tragically a woman was swept away in her car and died in September, was narrowing by the minute.
4:15pm update: Shandaken has declared a state of emergency due to flooding.
As of 1:30pm Dec. 1, 2010 Supervisor Stanley has declared a State of Emergency in the Town of Shandaken due to continuing threats of rain and High winds as the Esopus Creek has breached flood stage in several areas throughout the Town.
Heavy Rains and High winds are expected throughout the afternoon in the Shandaken Area. Several inches of rain and winds in excess of 50-60 MPH are anticipated throughout the Town until approximately 5-6pm
The town is announcing flood information and road closures via a page on the town website.
2pm update:
We've got reports that Plank Road between Phoenicia and Mt. Tremper is closed, via Mark Lerner on our Facebook page.
The Esopus River at the Cold Brook collection point in Boiceville is officially above flood state, according to its NWS hydrograph. Right now the river is at 13.29 feet, and is projected to rise to 15.7 feet. Flood stage is 11 feet, and at 16 feet, water runs over the local roadways:
1pm update: The NWS is warning that flash floods are possible throughout the Catskills from now until 6pm. This includes Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, Schoharie and Greene Counties:
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... ALBANY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK... THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...LATHAM...DELMAR...COLONIE...COHOES... ALBANY... GREENE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK... THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...HUNTER...CATSKILL... SCHOHARIE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF COBLESKILL... ULSTER COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK... THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...NEW PALTZ...KINGSTON...ELLENVILLE... * UNTIL 615 PM EST * AT 1216 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED BANDS OF HEAVY RAIN MOVING THROUGH THE WARNING AREA WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH 5 PM. * LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO WOODLAND VALLEY CAMPGROUND...NORTH-SOUTH LAKE CAMPGROUND...MOUNT TREMPER... LANESVILLE...KENNETH L WILSON CAMPGROUND...HIGH FALLS... WOODSTOCK...WINDHAM...WESTERLO...WEST SHOKAN...WEST HURLEY... VOORHEESVILLE...SUMMIT...SHARON SPRINGS...SELKIRK...SCHOHARIE... RICHMONDVILLE...RAVENA...PRESTON HOLLOW...PRATTSVILLE... PHOENICIA...NORTH BLENHEIM...MIDDLEBURGH...LOUDONVILLE... LIVINGSTONVILLE...LAKE KATRINE...JEFFERSON...GUILDERLAND... GILBOA...FEURA BUSH...COXSACKIE...CENTRAL BRIDGE...BREAKABEEN... BERNE AND ALTAMONT
Instructions: ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS...STREAMS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING. MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN. PLEASE REPORT FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY EMAIL AT ALB.STORMREPORT@NOAA.GOV.
12:15am update: The Daily Freeman reports that Onteora schools are closing early today because of flooding.
11:30am update:
Reports of downed trees and closed roads are trickling in, mostly in Delaware County. See 511NY.org and our previous post for more.
The National Weather Service just issued a "Special Weather Statement" warning of a band of very heavy rain and wind that is advancing across Delaware County right now:
...LINE OF RAIN SHOWERS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT CHENANGO...EASTERN BROOME...EASTERN SUSQUEHANNA...EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL ONEIDA...EXTREME WEST CENTRAL DELAWARE...NORTHWESTERN WAYNE...SOUTHEASTERN CORTLAND...SOUTHERN MADISON AND SOUTHWESTERN OTSEGO COUNTIES... AT 1111 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF RAIN SHOWERS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS. THESE RAIN SHOWERS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM GEORGETOWN TO CHENANGO FORKS TO HOP BOTTOM...AND MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE LINE OF HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS AND STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT... SANITARIA SPRINGS AND OTSELIC AT 1120 AM EST... NEW MILFORD AT 1125 AM EST... WINDSOR AND GIBSON AT 1135 AM EST... OXFORD AND HARPURSVILLE AT 1140 AM EST... HAMILTON AT 1145 AM EST... SHERBURNE AND NORWICH AT 1150 AM EST... SANFORD AND GUILFORD AT 1155 AM EST... BAINBRIDGE AND PLEASANT MOUNT AT NOON EST... THE RAIN SHOWERS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...WHICH COULD CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING OF ROADS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. IN ADDITION...WINDS WILL GUST BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH AS THE HEAVY RAIN MOVES THROUGH. THE WINDS COULD DOWN LIMBS...SMALL TREES LEADING TO A FEW POWER OUTAGES.
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No reports of flooding in the Catskills yet, but it's really coming down -- and sideways.
Central Hudson Gas & Electric's Storm Center map is showing scatttered power outages in Ulster and Sullivan counties -- including about 50 users without power in Frost Valley.
On Twitter, WBNG's Haley Burton tweets that she's reconsidering her drive to Oneonta today because of the weather. Jennifer Derochers, who blogs at MommaDandDaBoys, reports that she's one of the unlucky ones sans electricity today:
Having no luck explaining to the 4 & 2 yr old a power outage. Poor light has been switched on n off 200 times.
The flood watch is still in effect for Delaware and Sullivan counties, according to the National Weather Service's Binghamton office. The office's Real-Time Local Storm Summary page has a report of four downed trees in Colonie, in Albany County, but otherwise is pretty quiet in our area. Various hydrographs of the East Branch of the Delaware River show the waters far below flood stage right now.
