Courtesy of the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department
At 5:48 am on the morning of July 24th, the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department (SVFED) was paged out for a service call for a flooded roadway in the area of 1315 Garfield Rd. Car 1 was on scene to find that a large barrage of water was coming down off the adjacent hill and running directly into the residence owned by Fire Police Lt. Ian Lanier. A beaver dam had become unstable at the edge of an approximately 44 acre pond above the residence and ultimately gave way from the pressure. Garfield Rd was closed between Joe Ward Rd and Gentile Rd. Car 1 and a Rensselaer County Highway Superintendent gained access to the pond area and found the source and the breach in the dam. Garfield Rd sustained damage from the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that made its way down the hill and ultimately into the Kinderhook Creek. The SVFD would like to thank the members of the Rensselaer County Highway Department for working to get the roadway reopened as soon as they can. Additional thanks goes out to NYS DEC and members of the Rensselaer County Bureau of Public Safety for their assistance throughout the afternoon.
At the time of this writing the road remains closed while the flooding resides, and crews work to repair road shoulders, clean up debris, and repave the road. No injuries were reported due to the flooding. Both Rensselaer County and the SVFD are posting updates as more information becomes available.
