Main Roads Closed – A State Of Emergency Declared
by David Flint
An estimated three to five inches of rainfall on Wednesday caused widespread flooding and road closures in northern Columbia County and southern Rensselaer County. A state of emergency was declared Wednesday evening in the towns of Stephentown, Nassau and New Lebanon, with travel being limited to emergency vehicles and immediate area residents.
At one point in the afternoon, with the intersection of Routes 43 and 22 in Stephentown under water, Route 43 was shut down up to the Massachusetts border. The road was later reopened but with more rain falling Stephentown Fire Chief Rich Burgess reported at about 11 pm that the intersection was again filling up with water. They would continue to keep an eye on it through the night.
At about 5 pm the Kinderhook Creek began to wash over the temporary Route 22 bridge that was put in a couple of months ago to allow for construction of a new permanent bridge. According to a State Transportation Department spokesperson, that road was then closed from Stephentown down to New Lebanon.
Earlier there had been a mudslide on Route 20 near Darrow Road, causing Route 20 to be closed in both directions for several hours. By 8 pm, however, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department reported that the road had been reopened.
At 11:30 pm the State Transportation Department reported that Route 43 on the other side of Stephentown was also shut down because of a washout somewhere between Route 66 and Dunham Hollow. They could not give any indication as to when it might be reopened.
Stephentown Fire Chief Rich Burgess reported that in addition to Routes 43 and 22, there was flooding and washouts on a lot of secondary and town roads. Closures included Jones Road, Goold Road and East Road. Also, Tom Titus and Wemple roads had sections open to only one lane of traffic. Burgess said that the Fire Departments of Berlin, Hoosick Falls, North Hoosick and West Hoosick had sent crews to assist Stephentown.
