‘A rain event never seen before in Coxsackie’

GREENE COUNTY―Residents are being asked to self-report property damage sustained at their homes and businesses as a result of Wednesday’s severe flooding.

The online Individual Assistance Damage Self Report Tool, developed by New York State, is used to collect information that may help State and local officials identify supplemental damages for potential requests for available federal assistance programs.

Greene County, on Wednesday afternoon, declared a state of emergency as rainfall totaled more than eight inches in parts of the county over a 24-hour period and flooding wreaked havoc from the mountaintop to the rivertowns.

Among the areas that were hit the hardest was Coxsackie where the Greene County Sheriff’s Office Dive/Swift Water Rescue Team was deployed with the Coxsackie Fire Department to rescue a woman, her granddaughter, and a dog and cat from a house surrounded by rising water.

“This was a rain event never seen before in Coxsackie,” said Mayor Mark Evans.

The Mansion Street viaduct flooded, leaving a vehicle stranded and submerged up to its roof. Multiple sections of roadways remained impassable, including Mansion Street in front of Bethany Village and Peter Bronk Road where the bridge shifted from its base. The Village of Coxsackie, which like several other local municipalities declared its own state of emergency, asked all residents to shelter in place.

As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the Village of Coxsackie’s sewer plant had already measured 8.5 inches of rain.

“Add in this afternoon’s rain and we probably are around 10 inches,” Evans said.

“The sewer project on Ely Street suffered some catastrophic damage to the newly installed sewer line and washed out is gravel lining lower Ely and lower New Street,” he reported.

As of 7:25 p.m., Mansion Street by Bethany Village remained closed in both directions, but officials were hopeful to have it passable before Thursday morning.

“All other roads in the village are open but may have water, gravel or debris on the road edge,” Evans said. “Please use caution.”

A boil water advisory was issued in the Village of Catskill, as well as in the villages of Hunter and Tannersville while officials evaluated public systems for any potential problems.

The American Red Cross also established emergency shelters at the Hunter Elementary School and Greenville High School for anyone impacted by the flooding.

Greene County Emergency Services has been updating a lengthy list of known roadway issues and warned Wednesday that conditions were continuing to change rapidly throughout the day.

In Hunter, Route 214 at Route 23A flooded with possible roadway damage, as did Route 83 at Route 214. In New Baltimore, Main Street at Mill Street sustained heavy damage with a missing culvert and Cornell Park is closed until further notice due to damage. In Jewett, Route 23C between Mallory Road and Schribner Road experienced flooding and roadway damage, and Route 13 between Route 52 and Route 23C has a missing culvert. And the list goes on.

“Most of this damage has nothing to do with the creeks or streams. It’s mainly culverts getting plugged up and then overflowing onto the roads,” noted Hunter Town Supervisor Sean Mahoney.

Some are calling it the worst destruction seen in parts of the county since Tropical Storm Irene hit 15 years ago―an assessment Greene County Highway Superintendents Association President and New Baltimore Highway Superintendent Alan VanWormer said is accurate.

“Greene County received just short of nine inches of rain in a short period of time. Normal municipal drainage systems are like a puzzle and if one piece of that puzzle is missing―or stops doing its job―the entire system fails and severe damage will occur,” he said.

The bulk of the rain ended on Wednesday with just scattered showers forecasted through Thursday night.

“It will take several hours for all the water from these storms to work through local drainage systems,” according to the National Weather Service in Albany that has included Greene County in the flood warning area until 6 a.m. on Thursday.

For those who sustained damage, a link to The Individual Assistance Damage Self Report Tool can be found at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/4f19503f107e4541acfc552514c0dbaa.