by David Flint
The state of emergency in Stephentown ended Monday evening but was extended for an indefinite period in New Lebanon. As of Wednesday this week the towns were still trying to assess the extent of the damage caused by last week’s flood.
New Lebanon Town Supervisor Margaret Robertson said she declared the state of emergency on Wednesday in order to keep unnecessary traffic off the roads but to allow residents access to and from their homes and also to facilitate the release of emergency funds for repairs. At the recommendation of William Black, Columbia County Director of Emergency Management, she opted to extend the five day state of emergency for some indefinite period to allow for continued road repairs and to insure that everything is documented properly in anticipation of filing for FEMA disaster relief. Robertson accompanied Black and Town Highway Superintendent Jeffrey Winestock on an inspection tour of the entire Town. Most of the Town roads, she said, had been hard hit. She believed a ball park figure for the cost of fixing up Town roads alone would be well over half a million dollars. It was estimated that more than six inches of rain had fallen during two severe downpours, one at about 2:30 in the afternoon and another starting about 7:30 and lasting into the morning, resulting in areas along Route 20 under water that had never flooded before.
Royce Hill Road, Robertson said, was still closed as of Tuesday evening with a break in the road 8 feet deep and 20 feet wide. Other roads that had been washed out had since been reopened, including Kelly Road, Gale Hill Road, Schoolhouse Road, Shaker Road, Falls Road, Mill Road and West Street. County roads and State Route 20 were still being repaired. The race track and camping areas in West Lebanon had been an incredible mess, but after some herculean cleanup efforts the Dragway was planning to have racing on Wednesday of this week.
Robertson praised the Fire Department and Town Highway Department for keeping people safe and the County highway and emergency people for providing support. “It’s not been a pleasant experience,” she said, “and I hope it won’t ever happen again for a very, very long time.”
In Stephentown
Stephentown Town Supervisor Tom Sherman said on Tuesday that all roads had been reopened except for East Road up at the north end where a bridge had washed out. Route 22 had been closed since Wednesday night between the Route 43 intersection and Wyomanock Road after the temporary detour bridge over the Kinderhook was flooded over, but it was finally reopened on Saturday afternoon. Route 43 in Nassau had been closed between Dunham Hollow and Route 66 but that road was also reopened by Saturday. Sherman said he would be meeting Wednesday evening with Highway Superintendent Aldy Goodermote and officials from Rensselaer County. At that time he expected to have a better estimate of the amount of damage to Town roads and the cost to repair them. Sherman thought there was a good chance the Town would qualify for FEMA funding to restore the Town roads.
Sherman had nothing but praise for the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department that coordinated the response to the emergency. He expressed gratitude also to officials from the County and especially to County Executive Kathy Jimino who came out Thursday and Friday in the rain to oversee the work of the County highway department. Jimino, he said, was instrumental in quickly replacing a culvert to alleviate a water problem on South Road. He also wanted to thank officials and individuals from surrounding towns who provided pumps, trucks, sand and other things to help out. It was a “total community involvement,” he said.
Stephentown Fire Chief Rich Burgess reported that the Fire Department responded to 77 calls between Wednesday afternoon and Sunday evening. One of these was a mutual aid call for a structure fire in Hancock. During that time most of the roads were either closed or had single lane passage or were restricted to emergency traffic only. Some of the worst hit Town roads were East Road, South Stephentown Road, Presbyterian Hill Road and Jones Road.
“The Town Supervisor has been a great help in getting us items we needed,” Burgess said, “as well as the County. The Bureau of public safety was on hand Wednesday through Friday to assist us in whatever we needed for resources.” Burgess expressed gratitude also to all the neighboring fire departments that provided assistance, including Berlin, Petersburgh, Hoosick Falls, West Hoosick, North Hoosick, Hancock, Lebanon Valley, Tsatsawassa, Averill Park, Pittstown and Mountain View Volunteer Fire Company of Troy. The Stephentown Fire Station was set up as a centralized command post for the area to receive and transmit all communications, coordinate all operations and provide rehab, food and water for the emergency workers.
One of the calls the SVFD responded to was a cell phone call from Neil Gardner who was out in the middle of the Kinderhook on a sinking tractor. Gardner had gone into the creek on Friday afternoon to rescue one of his cows that was in the water on the other side of the creek, entangled in tree roots. He got a rope around the cow, but then his tractor stalled out in midstream with the water rising around him. Luckily he had a cell phone with him. The SVFD responded quickly, donned PFDs and used another of Gardner’s tractors to pull him and his tractor out of the raging stream. Gardner was uninjured but the cow he was attempting to save was washed downstream and has not been found. One of his calves was also lost. Five other cows were missing for a time but were later found out by Southard Road.
Larry Eckhardt said his Kinderhook Creek Farm “took a pretty good hit.” The sweet corn that is being harvested now is on fairly well drained soil but most of his acre or so of mixed vegetables – tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, peppers – are beyond salvaging. He said it remains to be seen what the long term damage is to the fields. Fortunately, due to the use of modern tilling methods, most of the soil has stayed put without severe erosion. But some of the acreage, now covered over with silt, mud and debris, will be lost to future production. There were logs coming down the Kinderhook, “rolling like a steamroller,” Eckhardt said, and still on Tuesday, “Water is coming from everywhere.” Eckhardt said he has been battling crop diseases all during this very wet growing season and the flooding will only make it worse as it leaves behind on the plants a lot of disease residue. The one good thing, however, was that nobody was hurt.
Dale Riggs said her crops at the Berry Patch were for the most part OK. She lost some lettuce, but the raspberries and tomatoes are all under cover. Some blueberries were lost but there are still lots left.
Still, Riggs estimated she lost thousands of dollars on what would normally have been the second busiest weekend of the year – and for no good reason. When the flood took out the temporary Rte 22 bridge across the Kinderhook, the NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) closed the road from the Rte 43/22 intersection down to Wyomanock Road. The Berry Patch is just one half mile north of Wyomanock Road. Riggs said she called NYSDOT and asked that the blockade be moved north up to Knapp Road or at least a half mile up to the Berry Patch so that people could get through. County Legislator Lester Goodermote also interceded on her behalf but to no avail. The blockade essentially shut down her business for three days.
Federal Disaster Aid Could Prevent Future Flood Problems
Members of the majority of the Rensselaer County Legislature said federal disaster aid could be used to prevent problems caused by future flooding.
Legislators Alex Shannon, Martin Reid, Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote are supporting a request for federal disaster aid that will help municipalities in southern Rensselaer County recover from flooding last week. The flood caused damaged to many properties, town and County roads in the area and resulted in the closure of two State highways.
A portion of any federal disaster aid could be used to improve drainage along town and County roads and help prevent future washouts. One key area for improvement could be State Route 43 in the Alps section of Nassau. The flood caused a culvert to lift out of the highway, breaking through the pavement and resulting in closure of the road. Local emergency services officials told legislators that past instances of flooding and heavy rain have caused damage to the culvert and resulted in closure of Route 43. Construction of a bridge or larger culvert could help reduce damage to the road during instances of flooding.
“Local governments are already dealing with a tough economy and reduced revenues. The flood caused new expenses at a time when towns can least afford it,” said Legislator Lester Goodermote.