Unrelenting rains cause mass evacuations across region

State of emergency, trees down, roads closed

By FRITZ MAYER

REGION — A state of emergency was declared on Wednesday morning as relentless rains pounded the region for the fifth straight day, dumping several inches of additional rain onto the already saturated earth. Streams jumped their banks causing washouts, submerged bridges and vast stretches of debris on area roadways.

Callicoon Creek raged over its banks, halting traffic on Route 52 in Youngsville, NY. Residents were evacuated early Wednesday morning, but the creek was moving too swiftly for rescuers to reach a group of families stranded in an apartment house on the far side of the water. Local contractor Jim Kline said it was the worst he’d seen the water in 40 years of living there.

Further down Route 52, the Callicoon Creek was causing havoc in Jeffersonville, NY, which was closed to traffic due to Main Street flooding. Families there were also evacuated.

The situation was similar in Livingston Manor, where at least one house reportedly collapsed from the force of the water. A neighbor said that there were residents inside the house when it collapsed.

In Narrowsburg, firefighters were going door-to-door in the flats urging residents to evacuate, because the Delaware River was expected to keep rising throughout the day.

In Honesdale, PA, fire chief Stan Pratt said there was a voluntary evacuation of at least eight streets and many families were opting to leave. The courthouse, which houses the county command center, had flooded, but by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Pratt said the water had receded about eight inches from its crest. He was not sure what would be the final crest of the Lackawaxen River.

The flooding caused serious traveling delays in Delaware County, NY, and at about 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services closed all of the roads in the towns of Hancock, Walton and Colchester, prohibiting all car travel in those towns. Officials also imposed a 6:00 p.m. curfew.

The National Park Service sent out an emergency message on Tuesday morning, warning that the Delaware River had risen to 15.9 feet at Montague, NJ¾about 10 vertical feet higher than normal for this time of year.

By Wednesday morning, the height at Callicoon was 18.8 feet, with the flood level at 12 feet. The river was expected to crest at Callicoon at 24.9 feet on Wednesday evening.

The height of the river at Barryville was 22.5 on Wednesday morning and was expected to crest at 33.2 feet on Thursday. The National Weather Service is predicting that the river height will be 20 feet on Friday.

The National Weather Service reported that a flash flood warning remained in effect through Wednesday morning for many counties in the region, including Sullivan and Delaware in New York and Pike and Wayne in Pennsylvania.