We're covering today's flooding across the Catskills with lists of closings, photos, and your reports as fast as we can type them. Help us out: Email us photos or information about road closures and flooding, or post your info in the comments section below. This story will be updated live all day today. Photo above, of rainfall since last night collected in a stock pot in Highmount, by Aaron Bennett.
10pm update: We spoke with the Delaware County Sheriff's Office a half-hour ago, and according to a press release they sent out at 6pm, Davenport is still operating under a state of emergency, along with Walton, Hamden and Delhi. We've added updates to all four of the towns, and all roads in these towns are closed to non-emergency vehicles. The towns of Colchester and Kortright have been taken off the emergency list. The shelter at the United Ministry Church in Delhi has closed because of lack of use.
If you like looking at your river data raw, check out the hydrographs for the East Branch and the West Branch of the Delaware River. Overall, it looks like the floodwaters all along their lengths are receding. That is, except for the reservoirs, which are quickly filling up. (Good thing they were pretty low already.) Here's what the Pepacton's hydrograph looks like:
6pm update: Things are beginning to look better out there. Woodstock reportedly has blue skies. There is sun outside of our window in Andes. And YNN is reporting that Livingston Manor is pretty relieved, overall, about only getting one foot of water on Main St. The Daily Freeman reports that while Ulster County was hit hard, it's over now:
“Ulster County, you are out of the woods as far as the rain goes,” Johnson said. “There’s still runoff, but the rain is pretty much done, and the weather will turn around. It’ll be mainly dry through the weekend.”
And the Daily Star is reporting that Delaware County chairman Jim Eisel lifted most of the county's state of emergency this afternoon. (See the Delaware County section below for more details.)
But not all is rosy. The Times Herald-Record reports that 700 people don't have power in Ulster County. Walton had rising waters this afternoon, and stores were being asked to close there, according to the Daily Star, which also reports that Walton and several other Delaware County towns are still emergency zones. And a Charlotte Valley dog may be lost in the floodwaters.
ROAD OPENINGS:
Rte. 23 between 23A and Prattsville and between County Roads 7 and 2 in Greene County is open, NYAlert reports.
Rte. 209 in Accord and Main St. and half of Plank Road in Phoenicia are open, reports the Daily Freeman.
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The Times Herald-Record has a whole page devoted to flood coverage, and it's subscription-free.
Parts of the region got 6 or 7 inches of rain, as you can see from the photo above. CNY meteorologist Peter Hall puts that in perspective:
It may be difficult to imagine 6” of rain. Think of it this way: if this was winter, and the exact amount of liquid precipitation was converted into heavy, wet, dense storm snow, I would have had to go on the air predict some of our area to receive 6 feet of snow in less than 24 hours.
Tony Ritter, who tweets as the Catskill Angler, has the latest river level figures for Catskill waterways. His verdict is that they're all still "unfishable:"
Catskills / Delaware River: River Levels at 3:00pm. Barryville: 16.7' / Callicoon: 13.0' / Beaverkill: 11.2' Very high and muddy. Unfishable
Binghamton broke a record for the wettest day ever.
ROAD CLOSINGS
A reader alerts us via Facebook that Rte. 10 near Fitch's Bridge is closed.
A reader in Walton tell us that Rte. 10 between Hamden and Delhi, and Walton and Deposit.
511.org has a roundup of NYS Dept. of Transportation alerts. Here are the local ones:
Rte. 30 between Margaretville and Roxbury is closed due to flooding: "NYSDOT: closed, flooding on NY 30 in both directions from NY 28 to Town of Roxbury; Town of Middletown Line. starting 7:20 AM, 10/01/10 until further notice."
Rte. 23A in Hunter is deluged with "heavy water:" "NYSDOT: flooding, passable with care on NY 23A in both directions at CR 83; Hunter Mountain until 11:00 AM, 10/01/10. Comment: heavy water on the roadway Rte. 23A Hunter."
Rte. 32 between Kingston and the towns of Ulster and Esopus is closed, with one lane blocked all the way to Rosendale: "NYSDOT - Region 8: Flooding on NY 32 Both Directions between City of Kingston; Town of Ulster Line (Ulster) and Town of Esopus; Town of Rosendale Line (Rosendale) at least one lane blocked."
Rte. 52A in Sullivan County is closed: "NYSDOT: closed, flooding on NY 52A in both directions from START ROUTE NY 52A; NY 17B to END ROUTE; NY 52. starting 7:25 AM, 10/01/10 until further notice."
Rte. 9W in Ulster County is blocked by a downed tree: "NYSDOT - Region 8: Downed tree on US 9W Northbound north of Exit - NY 199; Ramp (Ulster) northbound one lane blocked."
Rte. 214 to Shandaken is closed: "NYSDOT - Region 8: Flooding on NY 214 Both Directions north of START ROUTE NY 214; NY 28 (Shandaken) all lanes blocked."
FLOODING INFO BY COUNTY
Delaware County
5pm update: The Daily Star reports that County chairman Jim Eisel lifted the state of emergency for most of Delaware County at 1:30pm this afternoon. (Colchester, Davenport, Delhi, Hamden, Kortright and Walton are still emergency zones, however.) Thing is, according to the county emergency announcement page, the state of emergency is still in effect everywhere.
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Delaware County has declared a state of emergency, according to the County website's emergency announcement page. County chairman Jim Eisel has ordered that all roads in Delaware County be closed today:
Delaware County Office Closure Fri Oct 01 2010 07:41:00 GMT-0400 (EDT) All Delaware County offices are closed 10/1/2010 due to flooding. Chairman James E. Eisel Jr. has declared a State of Emergency and all roads in the county are closed.
The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at the United Ministry Church in Delhi, and some people in the town are being evacuated, WBNG reports.
Mike Wentland, who runs Catskills Cycling, reports that flooding reached "biblical" proportions in Delaware County last night:
Widespread flooding here in the #Catskills this morn with biblical flooding last night. Look out #Kingston Waters still rising here.
Hancock got almost 7 inches of rain last night, according to the Weather Channel.
Town-by-town reports:
Sullivan County
The villages of Livingston Manor and Roscoe in the Town of Rockland are experiencing significant flooding, according to the Sullivan County website, and the town of Rockland has declared a state of emergency, according to County Manager David Faslau:
The Town of Rockland has declared a State of Emergency. The schools have been opened for any needed shelter. Flooding is occurring in Livingston Manor, particularly in the area of Main Street and Pearl Street. Some evacuations are underway in Livingston Manor and Roscoe, including the Roscoe Motel. I have been in contact with The Town of Rockland Supervisor and Legislator Elwin “Woody” Wood concerning the conditions in the Town. Further information will be provided periodically.
Faslau also issued a statement this morning about flooding in Monticello:
“Some flooding has occurred near the County Government Center in Monticello. Wasser Road (Government Center Lane) and a portion of Sturgis Road are not passable. All employees and visitors to the Government Center are urged to use caution in these areas. The rear parking lot may be accessed from one direction only, going from North Street around the block to Sturgis Road.
Town-by-town reports:
Ulster County
The Esopus is over its banks and major flooding is expected, the Daily Freeman reports.
Also from the Daily Freeman: Shandaken in state of emergency.
Town-by-town reports:
Greene County
Daily Mail reporter Susan Campriello tweets that Catskill Creek is flooding.
Town-by-town reports:
Schoharie County
Graph of water level at the Gilboa Dam from NOAA.
Schoharie County Emergency Services has been posting on Facebook. Around noon:
At this time, we know that the following roads are closed: Prattsville & 990V Intersection, Warnerville Cut-off (Richmondville), Merchant Road (Jefferson), Mead Road (Jefferson), State Rt 165 (Seward), School House Rd (Carlisle).
They also say water at the dam is expected to crest around 2pm:
As of 11:00am, the Schoharie Creek was at 30,500 cfs at Prattsville and falling; The Schoharie Reservoir was down 25-30' prior to the rain (due to the renovations on the Gilboa Dam spillway) and is now at 1118.5'. We are expecting to crest at the Dam at 2pm with +/-6" flowing over the notch. The smaller creeks and tributaries (West Creek, Cobleskill Creek, Fox Creek, Fly Creek, etc.) have crested & are receeding.
