| Watershed Post

Destruction in Liberty

Above: Dwyer Avenue in Liberty this morning. Photo by Angela Page.

We're getting reports that the town of Liberty, in Sullivan County, endured considerable damage during the storm last night. Here is one photo of a neighborhood in Liberty that has multiple downed trees. Barbara Gref, our trusted Jeffersonville correspondent, sent this to us via Facebook just now:

Liberty, NY, on one street alone, at least 5 houses crushed. Lots of other destruction. Photo by Angela Page, from Dwyer Avenue.

If you have images or news from Liberty, please send them to us via Facebook, submit them to our Crowdmap, tweet them to #sandycatskills and #wpmap, or email them to [email protected].

Topics:

Place:

Tags:

Delaware County state of emergency lifted; travel advisory in effect; multiple road closings and power outages

In Delaware County, thousands of homes are without power (mainly in Sidney and Roxbury) and there is a travel advisory issued for the roads. The county has lifted the state of emergency, however, and is not operating any shelters, has cut emergency operations staff back to minimum levels, and is predicting that "major flooding is not a concern." No major reports of flooding have occurred in Delaware County at this time.

Several roads are closed, including:

Ben Meeker Road, Searles Road and Swart Road in the Town of Middletown are all closed due to trees and/or power lines down.
New York State Route 30 from Cat Hollow Road to Holiday Brook Road.
New York State Route 97 from Newman Road to the Sullivan County line.

Read all the specifics in the press releases below, all of which were issued this morning:

9am:

Delaware County remains under a travel advisory until further notice.

Tags:

flooding

Delaware County Emergency Services

Topics:

Fleischmanns lifts state of emergency

Above: NYSEG workers and the Fleischmanns Fire Department working on Wagner Avenue, where a tree fell on a transformer Monday night. Photo taken around 8:30am by village mayor Todd Pascarella.

The village of Fleischmanns has lifted its state of emergency declared during the Sandy storm, effective 10am. The state of emergency was declared Monday night after a tree fell onto a transformer on Wagner Avenue.

From mayor Todd Pascarella:

The tree on the power lines on Wagner Ave is being addressed by NYSEG and is currently the only area of real concern within the Village. Fire Chief Todd Wickham and I concurred that it makes sense to lift the state of emergency at this point being that it is all under control. Please be advised that the State of Emergency for the Village of Fleischmanns will be lifted as of 10:00 am today October 30th, 2012.

A Delaware County-wide state of emergency was lifted earlier Tuesday morning.

Topics:

Place:

Tags:

Livingston Manor prepares for a long night

Above: A Sullivan County Sheriff's Office squad car patrols Livingston Manor this afternoon. Photos by Jason Dole.

In September, cumulative rainfall flooded downtown Livingston Manor, something that’s become a common occurrence in the past decade. Now, little more than a month since that last flood, folks in Livingston Manor are keeping an eye on the Little Beaverkill and the Cattail Brook as the storm called Sandy approaches.

Town officials and emergency responders are getting ready for a long night, and whatever will follow. The Livinsgton Manor Fire Department is a hub of activity. Ed Weitman, Town of Rockland Supervisor is there, confident that his town is prepared.

“We’re about as ready as we can be,” says Weitman. “We made arrangements. The Fire Department is all set, and we’re opening evacuation centers.”

Place:

Topics:

Tags:

Livingston Manor Fire Department

Sullivan County Hurricane Sandy reports

Man dies in Hunter bungalow fire

Hunter resident Paul Whitman died in an early-morning fire that broke out in his bungalow at 8 Joval Court on Monday, state police announced today.

The fire was reported to Greene County 911 around 6am. According to a press release from New York State police, an investigation found that the fire was caused by smoking materials.

Hunter and Tannersville Fire Departments and Hunter Ambulance responded to the fire. The New York State Police was assisted in the investigation by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the Town of Hunter Police Department.

Tags:

Place:

Topics:

Fatal accident on Rocky Mountain Road in Kerhonkson

Emergency officials are currently at the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash in the Town of Rochester in Ulster County.

Supervisor Carl Chipman said the crash on Rocky Mountain Road involved a passenger car and an RV, and that there was one death. Deputies from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and fire department are currently working at the scene of the crash. Rocky Mountain Road is closed.

Chipman said several other roads are also closed in the town, which is set between the Shawangunk and Catskills mountains. The closed roads include Upper Whitfield, Queens Highway, Samsonville Road, Cooper Street, Braziel Heights, Mountain Laurel Road, Oxbow Road and Mettacahonts Roach.

All those roads are closed because of either fallen trees or power lines, Chipman said.

Update, Tuesday, October 30: The New York State Police has released more information about the accident.

The accident occurred at 6:13pm at the Mountain Valley Resort Trailer Park, when a large section of roof blew into the windshield of a car, striking the driver. The car then traveled a short distance and struck an unoccupied trailer.

Tags:

Place:

The town of Walton prepares

Videographer Jessica Vechione has teamed up with Bob Cairns of the Walton Reporter to do a micro-news report on Hurricane Sandy preparedness in the town of Walton. Check it out above -- it has footage of Walton's emergency planning meeting today and an interview with Walton Mayor Patrick Meredith. (You can also watch the Walton Reporter on Facebook -- they are updating throughout the storm.)

Tags:

Place:

Topics:

So far, so good in Lexington

The news was all good out of Lexington as of 7:15 p.m. on Monday.

Fire Chief Paul Dwon reported that all roads were opened and that power had been restored after a short outage.

Tags:

Place:

Topics:

Freshtown supermarket takes down "aqua-berm" barriers after warnings about liability

Above: Protective "aqua-berm" barriers being inflated with water at the Margaretville Freshtown this morning. Photo by Joe Moskowitz. Used with permission. The berms were later emptied after a Middletown code enforcement officer warned the store that it could be liable for damage the berms caused to other businesses.

The barriers that were installed Sunday night to protect the Freshtown supermarket in Margaretville were removed Monday morning after town officials warned that owners of the grocery could be liable if surrounding buildings were damaged by floodwaters.

The disappearance of the “aqua-berm” barriers became the talk of town Monday, as residents and business owners surmised that Town of Middletown officials forced the supermarket owners to remove the barriers because they were not permitted to have them.

Tags:

Place:

Topics:

State of emergency declared in Delaware County

From the Delaware County Emergency Services Facebook page:

Delaware County Chairman, James E. Eisel, Sr., has declared a State of Emergency for Delaware County. All roads in the county will be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. when conditions will be reassessed.

Updated, 6pm: Delaware County has issued a press release. Although the county is in a state of emergency, there have been no announcements made about emergency shelters. The state of emergency will be reevaluated at 6am Teusday morning.

Read the full press release:

Delaware County Chairman, James E. Eisel, Sr., has declared a State of Emergency for Delaware County. All roads in the county will be closed effective at 8PM October 29, 2012, continuing until 6AM October 30, 2012, at which time it will be reevaluated.

Tags:

Delaware County Emergency Services

Hurricane Sandy

Topics:

Government

You are here

Pages