Worst case precautions taken in Narrowsburg

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Narrowsburg Firehouse became a hub for emergency operations on September 18 as Sullivan County prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Following a 12:00 noon meeting at the county’s airport in White Lake, NY, Sullivan County Manager Dan Briggs decided to establish a remote Emergency Operations Center in Narrowsburg in order to get closer to the Upper Delaware River, which continued to rise as of 4:50 p.m. Outposts were set up in Callicoon and Barryville, NY.

At 10:00 p.m. Friday, the previous day, the depth gage at Barryville registered at 3.6 feet. At 4:50 p.m. Saturday, it registered at 24.09 feet, more than seven feet above flood stage there. The measurements were being transmitted via radio to the Narrowsburg Fire Department throughout the day.

Water raging through the narrows on Saturday afternoon looked like the wake behind an ocean liner, and many residents and visitors gathered on the Narrowsburg Bridge to watch the whirlpools and swells caused by the massive flow pressure.

At about 5:00 p.m., Narrowsburg Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Kelly said the emergency responders were preparing for the river to crest between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m., between 26 and 28 feet, which would have created a disaster worse than the flood of 1955.

The list of responders included fire departments from Westbrookville, Rock Hill, Bloomingburg, Fallsburg, Liberty and Lava. The New York State Police and Welcome Lake dive teams were also parked in front of the Tusten-Cochecton branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library.

Upper Delaware National Park Service Law Enforcement Ranger Larry Neal said the worst-case scenario could involve severe flooding of any house within 1,000 feet of the river.

Kelly said water releases into the East and West Branch Rivers, dictated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, exacerbated natural flooding caused by tributaries flowing into the Delaware.

“That’s [releases] why it’s coming up so high. They hold the water back all year long, and when something like this happens, there’s nowhere for it to go,” Kelly said.

Fortunately for the residents living in Narrowsburg’s “flats” community and in other neighborhoods within the river’s floodplain, the Upper Delaware crested long before disaster. At 6:30 p.m., the Barryville gauge registered a depth of 23.8 feet. The emergency crews were sent home at about 8:00 p.m.

Nonetheless, a few low-lying homes along Delaware Drive, the road that leads along the perimeter of “the flats,” were flooded with knee-deep water. According to Kelly, when the depth at Barryville reaches 22 feet, the river begins to affect residents.

By 4:00 p.m., everyone living along Delaware Drive was asked to evacuate. While the evacuation was not mandatory, Neal said emergency crews used “strong verbiage” to communicate the gravity of the situation.

While most responded to the instructions, others decided to wait and see what would happen.

Julie Baker, who has lived on Delaware Drive for eight years, said she was going to stay by her home. And Barbara Elco, who has lived on “the flats” since 1968, said that though she had never seen the river as high as it was, she would also opt to stay. Their homes were never flooded, but a few neighbors on lower ground were.

The Big Eddy flooded the first level of John and Yoke Bauer DiGiorgio’s home on Fifth Street. As the water was coming in, Narrowsburg resident Floyd Campfield brought a load of timber to board up lower doors at the DiGiorgios’, and he helped John carry furniture out of the lower rooms.

“If it wasn’t for Lurch [Campfield], I would have lost the whole basement. The doors would have been blown out,” John DiGiorgio said Saturday evening on the bridge. He also said Tusten Supervisor Ben Johnson helped to secure the home.