We'll be offline for the rest of the day today while we move the Watershed Post HQ to its new home in New Kingston. We'll be out of internet access for several hours while we switch everything over, but we'll be back tomorrow as usual. Tonight, we're celebrating with a fire in our new woodstove!
Two canine participants in Sunday's Halloween parade in Phoenicia. Photo by Bruce Barry.
At the last minute yesterday, FEMA extended the deadline for victims of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee to register for disaster benefits. The deadline was yesterday at 10pm, but now you have until December 15 to register -- see the press release below:
FEMA Extends New York Deadlines to Register for Disaster Assistance
ALBANY, N.Y. - At the request of New York state, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has extended the registration deadline for anyone who suffered damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee this summer.
Those affected by either storm now have until Dec. 15 to register for federal disaster assistance.
"We've extended the registration deadline for people who - for whatever reason - have not had the opportunity to register for assistance," said FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Philip E. Parr. "The goal is to ensure all eligible Irene and Lee survivors have the chance to seek assistance."
If you were affected by Tropical Storm Irene and live in the Catskills, today -- October 31, 2011 -- is your last chance to apply for federal disaster aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Phone lines will close at 10pm tonight. Call 800-621-3362 to register.
From a FEMA press release:
It’s important that those who may need to register for aid do so as soon as possible. Registrations cannot be accepted after the October 31, 2011 deadline.
“If you are waiting for an insurance settlement, it is still necessary to register with FEMA before the October 31 deadline in order to be considered for assistance,” said Philip E. Parr, FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer.
A bat hair colonized by Geomyces destructans under a microscope. Photo via Wikipedia.
Adam Bosch of the Times Herald-Record reported on Saturday that scientists have proven that bats across the county are being killed by an odd, cold-loving fungus called Geomyces destructans:
Scientists found that a fungus called Geomyces destructans causes the white-nose syndrome that has been killing bats since at least 2006. White-nose syndrome — which gets its name from the fuzzy, white fungus that grows around the noses of infected bats — kills bats by depleting their fat reserves before they emerge from hibernation.
A federal study helped prove that the fungus is responsible for killing the bats. From the study's abstract:
For the second time this week, we're collecting your snow photos from around the Catskills. Send us your pictures of this weekend's freak October snowstorm in the Catskills, and we'll add them to the growing slideshow above.
We're kicking off with two photos of deer bounding through snow on Dry Brook Road yesterday in Arkville taken by Nancy Fallon. Click the photos to see where the photos were taken.
Share your photos with us by emailing it to [email protected], posting it to our Facebook page, or to our Flickr group. We'll add them to this slideshow as we get them.
Filmmaker Jessica Vecchione visited the Occupy Delhi protest at Courthouse Square in Delhi on Saturday, October 29. She took the film above, which features many among the small group of protesters speaking about why they're allying themselves with the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Though Delhi is a college town, home to a 3,100-student SUNY campus, most of the faces in the Occupy Delhi video are those of older local residents.
Around the 1:45 mark, Andes resident Bill Piervincenzi explains why he's occupying Delhi:
"Students who can't pay their loans, veterans who can't get a job, homeowners who are losing the value of their homes, the callousness of people making policy, corruption because of money in the election process. There's just so many things, and maybe the cumulative effect of all of them is what's making me stand here today in the cold."
Mother Jones Magazine is keeping a live, updated map of Occupy protests and arrests, both large and small, from around the world. So far, they have details on over 450 protests and over 2,000 arrests.
Above: Snow and a downed tree blocking a road in Dutchess County last night. Photo by Steve Hopkins, via Facebook.
Well, that was something. Five to 10 inches of snow wet, heavy snow are blanketing the Catskills this morning after an overnight blizzard.
At 7:40pm, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that 261,338 customers had lost power statewide because of downed trees and power lines caused by the storm. At 9:30pm, the governor declared a state of emergency for 13 counties across the state, including Sullivan, Greene, Ulster and Delaware counties. (See both press releases below.)
The county that seems to have been hit hardest is Ulster. Central Hudson reported last night that about half of its customers were without power, according to a statement published by the Daily Freeman.
Above: A map of the terrain Ryan Owens traveled through on his 6.5-mile walk from West Shokan to Denning while he was lost in the Catskills on October 28 and 29 with only a long-sleeve T-shirt and a bottle of water. To view Ryan Owens's walk in a larger map, click here.
Fantastic news from the Catskills this afternoon: Ryan Owens, the 22-year-old who was stranded overnight in the Slide Mountain Wilderness has been found, alive and well.
2pm update: Ryan Owens has been found! Click to read our follow-up story.
1:30pm update: This story has been edited to remove a quote from Mauer. Martha Frankel reports from Shokan that the search for Ryan Owens continues this afternoon.
Original story: A 22-year-old man is lost in the forbidding wilderness off Moon Haw Road in the town of Olive today after spending the night outdoors with only a dog, a long-sleeve T-shirt and a bottle of water, State Police say.
Ryan Owens set out on a hike at 2pm yesterday, heading up either Friday and Balsam Cap Mountains, according to Olivebridge resident Donna Mauer. Owens lives with Mauer and her son, Max Mauer.
"He was only wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans," Mauer said. "He has nothing for survival: only a bottle of water and a dog."
Max Mauer was scheduled to meet Owens after the hike at 5pm yesterday, but Owens never appeared, Donna Mauer said.
