NY flood forces road closures around Rockland, Orange; 1 dead in Orange
Devastating flooding on Sunday swept away a woman in Orange County, left multiple roads and bridges shut down Monday in parts of Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam, and curtailed some Metro-North train service after a rain deluge sent vehicles floating, opened sinkholes and flooded homes.
"You only need to walk through these streets and see the pain in people's eyes as they described to me their loss, their fear, their anxiety," Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a Highland Falls news conference in Orange County on Monday.
A woman was rescued from her senior apartment by crews from West Point, Hochul said. But there was also a 35-year-old woman who officials said drowned. She came out, saw her house taking on too much water, and didn't survive.
Hochul said the heavy rain and flooding was just the latest in unprecedented weather events hitting the state over and over. Nine months ago a massive snowstorm swept through and recently a mass of unhealthy air that passed through from wildfires in Canada. "Once again, the skies opened up and wrought so much rain − nine inches of rain in this community − that they're calling this a 1,000-year event," the governor said, adding that government and communities must work together to fight climate change's ravages.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus at the news conference praised the cooperation at all levels in preparing for and responding to the storm. He said many cars tried to go through water, but got stuck, and that active-duty Army personnel walked through deep water to cars to make sure people got out.
Neuhaus said the woman who died was found in the bottom of a ravine and that there were dangers for the first responders as they made their way to remove her. “We saw the debris falling on them as they tried to get her back up to high land where we could get her back to the medical examiner’s office," he said.
Seeking federal help
Hochul declared a state of emergency for Orange, Rockland and Ontario counties. On Sunday, Neuhaus issued an executive order, active until 7:30 Monday night, banning all vehicles and pedestrians from roads in the town of Highland.
Hochul said she spoke to the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and that “she has offered all the help necessary.” First steps are to assess damage and the costs to repair.
U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand announced mid-day Monday that they were seeking a major disaster declaration for the state from the FEMA.
“There’s no time to wait,” Ryan, D-18th District, said in a statement. “FEMA must activate their Disaster Assessment Teams and prepare to fulfill any and all requests from New York State for additional assistance.”
A federal disaster declaration would open up grants and assistance to state and local governments and nonprofits and reimburse certain repair costs.
With more rain expected Monday, the federal representatives urged quick action by FEMA.
“This loss of life and extensive damage to homes, businesses, and transportation infrastructure is devastating and will likely total tens of millions of dollars in costs suffered taking months and months to repair, according to my early discussion with those on the ground,” Schumer said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, whose district includes Rockland, Putnam and parts of Westchester, called for quick action on federal emergency status. "The damage across the Hudson Valley is significant and we need to keep the ball rolling here," the Republican said.
One for the books
The West Point-Highland Falls area was particularly hard hit. The Red Cross's Hudson Valley Chapter opened a shelter at the Sacred Heart of Jesus School at 7 Cozzens Ave. in Highland Falls. Volunteers are providing a place to rest, water and snacks, the agency said on Twitter.
Nicholas Bassill, University of Albany director of research and development, where the New York State Mesonet tracks real-time weather data from 126 field stations, said that, in addition to the West Point area getting walloped, Sunday's storm was one for the books.
In Somers, it broke rainfall records that go back to 2021's Hurricane Ida. The record for rainfall over 24 hours was 5.30 inches. Sunday's storm brought 5.96 inches. The record for rainfall in one hour was 1.59 inches. Sunday's storm brought 2.17 inches to Somers.
Hochul said the storm appeared to be moving east and that it's not expected to deliver the level of damage in other parts of New York that occurred Sunday into Monday.
Rockland County EMS Coordinator Desiree Leon-Stoll also serves as president of the Stony Point Ambulance Corps. She said Stony Point responded to help rescue a group of Appalachian trail hikers near Perkins Memorial Tower on Sunday, including two who sustained significant injuries after they were swept off the trail by flash flooding. It took four hours for volunteer EMS staff to get them out, and then one had to be evacuated in the bed of a pick-up truck, she said. Both were taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
Significant damage was found around Rockland's Stony Point, where roads turned into rushing rivers in some places. Journal News/lohud video showed an inundated section of Lowland Hill Road, with rescue personnel using a boat to evacuate residents of flooded homes. Charles S. Eccher Park on Lowland Hill Road was flooded Sunday.
Richard Beyer and Cindy Beyer, who own the two homes that flooded when Cedar Brook rose across from the park, said Piermont firefighters took him out by boat. “We didn’t think the water would go super high,” Richard Beyer said.
He said the brook hadn’t risen so high since Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Floyd before that. By Monday afternoon, it was already receding.
On Monday, Stony Point Parks and Recreation cleared debris from the park grounds.
Rockland County Legislator Doug Jobson, R-Stony Point, anticipated that the town's summer camp would be able to use parts of Eccher Park, also known as Lowland Park, by Tuesday.
Behind Yorktown Town Hall, a sinkhole
In Yorktown, in Westchester, Town Supervisor Tom Diana declared a state of emergency Monday, launching a process to seek emergency aid from the county, state and federal governments. He said damage included a sinkhole behind Town Hall, compromised culverts -- conduits that carry an open drain or stream beneath roads -- boulders on roads, and washed out roads.
"It got so bad to the point where Mohegan Fire Department lost a firetruck trying to respond to a scene, and it was compromised by the high water on one of the roadways," Diana said at a news conference Monday.
In the Jefferson Valley hamlet, the recently renovated municipal golf course, which town officials just held a grand opening for on Saturday, is "underwater," Police Chief Robert Noble said at the news conference. "I mean, it's horrible what's happened in some sections of town."
Diana's advice to the public echoed other officials: If you think you can drive through an area of road covered in water, don't do it -- you don't know what's underneath it.
"Turn around, and get out of there, because we don't know that the road is not compromised undeneath," Diana said. "There are numerous wash-outs that underneath the roadways ... the roadways are buckling and/or buckled, which means that there's a possible wash out underneath them."
More than six inches of rain fell on the town, Diana said in a statement.
“As the water recedes, I’m sure we’re going to find more damage," Diana said.
Noble said many Yorktown roads were affected. The police were working with an auto body shop to remove about six abandoned vehicles from a stretch of the closed-down Route 202 corridor, between Old Crompond Road and Lexington Avenue.
A culvert on Old Crompond Road, where it runs between Linette Court and Mill Pond Road, "has been significantly compromised," Noble said, and the town's highway department was at that scene "where we're concerned about that culvert collapsing."
Yorktown parks and recreation programs are canceled Monday and municipal pools closed. The town camps are expected to resume and one pool reopen on Tuesday. The Shrub Oak pool may not reopen Tuesday due to the flooding in the town's north end.
Garbage and recycling will be collected Monday on streets deemed passable. If a street is closed or unpassable, collection attempts will be tried later in the day.
Roads still closed
Road closures continued into Monday, including the Palisades Interstate Parkway north of Exit 14 in Stony Point; a section of Route 6/Long Mountain Parkway; the westbound Bear Mountain Bridge; portions of Route 9W, including the Popelopen Bridge on 9W in Town of Highlands; the Wesley Chapel Road between Spook Rock and Route 202; and Cedar Flats Road in Stony Point.
State Police Spokesman Trooper Steven Nevel said early Monday: "Everything is a hard closure now, but we still have residual flooding and debris in the roadway. Our aviation is up right now, getting an assessment of the area. I couldn't give you a 'this road is open,' because it could be open but then be closed in the next 10 or 15 minutes."
Sunday's flash flooding left motorists stranded along low-lying stretches of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, with troopers helping dozens of people and asking all others to avoid the area. The northbound Parkway was closed from Exit 14 to the Long Mountain traffic circle.
There have been ramp closures due to flooding. As of 6 a.m. Monday, the exit 7A northbound ramp from the New York State Thruway to the Saw Mill River Parkway was closed at the Department of Transportation's request, spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said.
In Yorktown, in Westchester, the police said Monday these are closed:
∎Route 6 north between Perry and Wood streets
∎Wood Street between Mountain Road and the Putnam County line
∎East Main Street between Pine Cour and Barger Street
∎Barger Street between East Main Street and Route 6
∎New Road
∎Old Crompond Road between Linette Court and Mill Pond Road
∎White Hill Road between Hunterbrook Road and William Court
∎Brookside Avenue
∎Breenwood Street between Brookside Avenue and Veterans Road
∎Mohegan Avenue between Route 6 and Sagamore Avenue
∎Brook Lane
∎North Ridge Road
∎Robin Road
∎Granite Springs Road between Headwig Drive and Gregory Street
∎Crompond Road between Ready Refresh and The Taconic Vet -- 3655-3787 Crompond Rd)
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In Cornwall, in Orange County, the town's Office of Emergency Management said on Facebook these roads were closed as of 7 a.m. and that the closures "are for the foreseable future":
∎Route 9W south between Cornwall and Highlands
∎Route 32 north and south between Cornwall and Woodbury
∎Route 218 north and south between Cornwall and Highlands
∎Route 6 from Route 32 and Route 17 in Central Valley to the Long Mountain Traffic Circle
∎The Palisades Interstate Parkway from Bear Mountain Bridge to exit 14
∎The Bear Mountain Bridge, westbound traffic
∎The Popolopen Bridge/Route 9w north from Bear Mountain Circle in town of Highlands
∎Bear Mountain State Park.
State police said in a statement Sunday they had assisted dozens of motorists and were doing a check of all remaining vehicles in the area “to ensure that there is no one stranded or left behind.”
CSX freight tracks were compromised in about 10 places, Neuhaus said. Sites along CSX track between Selkirk, New York and New Jersey were washed out. The freight line reported Monday that delays and reroutes are anticipated for at least 24 hours.
A chance of more thunderstorms, patchy fog and humidity continue in the region today, according to the National Weather Service, with a diminishing chance of rain in the evening.
Metro-North updates
Metro-North said on Twitter that service on the Hudson Line was suspended between the Croton-Harmon station and Poughkeepsie. It said Hudson line tickets would be accepted on Harlem line trains. Also, Newburgh-Beacon ferry service would not run on Monday.
Metro-North said that on Tuesday Hudson line trains will run between New York City's Grand Central Terminal and Peekskill at least once an hour. "We will continue to provide limited bus service between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie, with buses departing Croton-Harmon on a load-and-go basis," the transit service tweeted Monday evening.
Metro-North said the storm washed out tracks along the Hudson Line north of Croton-Harmon and on the Wassaic Branch. "Our crews are continuing to evaluate the damage and are working to clear the tracks," Metro-North tweeted.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's website said: "Our crews continue working to clear downed trees and repair tracks damaged by flooding."
Since service is suspended between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie, the MTA said: "Riders should consider traveling to Croton-Harmon station or take Harlem Line service at Southeast, Croton Falls and other stations along that line instead," the message said.
Photographer and videographer Seth Harrison contributed to this report.
Michael McKinney is a breaking news reporter for The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hudson Valley flood closes roads, causes 1 death
