Road Trip – 'Irene and Lee' Flood Photos!

The timing of our trip could have been a little better…but then again it could have been a lot worse!  Basically, we drove north up into Pennsylvania and New York right behind Hurricane Irene.  Then Tropical Storm Lee slid up the east coast right after we’d arrived in the very northern portion of New York…

We didn’t stop, take photos and gawk at any of the folks we passed who were dumping their possessions on the curb…or at the police and members of the National Guard blocking roads or helping with the clean up.  Still, I think that the following photos show just how wet and flooded some of the countryside was as we drove up through central Pennsylvania and then back down the Hudson River Valley.

This is the Susquehanna River after Irene passed but before the extreme flooding caused by the subsequent passage of Tropical Storm Lee.   The river was over its banks but this was before it caused serious flooding.  This photo was taken about halfway between Duncannon and Selinsgrove along US Highway 11 North.

This is another photo of the Susquehanna looking upriver…

This is New York Route 9N north leading out of Keene.  That torrent of water alongside the road is called Gulf Brook.  The ‘brook’ is normally a picturesque little stream littered with boulders.  The road was closed just north of this barricade.  Fully 2 weeks before we drove through Keene, Irene passed through and she turned Gulf Brook in to a raging torrent.  At 6:07 PM, the stream destroyed the building housing the town’s Volunteer Fire Department.

The Town of Keene, which has 1,105 year-round residents, encompasses the highest peaks of the Adirondacks, including the 5,344-foot Mount Marcy.  More than half of the town's 165 square miles are too rugged to have ever been settled.

Here are further ongoing repairs along NY Route 9n north.  Worse yet, New York Route 73, the most direct route for locals to and critical tourist traffic from I-87 and the Hudson River Valley was totally washed out and there was concern that repairs wouldn’t be completed before winter set in.

This was some of the debris left behind after the ‘Brook’ and the East Branch of the Ausable River rampaged through the area.  Many homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged.  The National Guard, contractors, residents and volunteers were all working to clean up the town as we passed through.  Damage was severe enough in this town that Governor Cuomo stopped here to review the destruction and lend support.

This was flooding that we encountered along the back roads as we drove from Cooperstown over to the Hyde Park NY area.  Twice we had to pass through flooded roads, (standing water only), we were once again detoured before I revised our route and resorted to using I-88 to reach our destination.

We passed this temporary waterfall and stream just pouring off a low cliff…

Another flooded river valley… This was along a loop detour off of NY Route 7 on side roads to a bridge that allowed us to circle the flooding and return to the highway. 

This is another view along the detour…ruined crops for sure!

This is the village of Schenevus New York at the east end of the detour caused by the flooding of Elk Creek.  A check of the map shows that Elk Creek eventually flows into the Susquehanna River.

These final two photos show the explosive torrent of the Wappingers Creek at Wappingers Falls New York.  The sound of these falls in full flood was deafening.  To check out the flooding and the noise level for yourself, just go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfFIj0CEato.

I’m sure that the owners of the old buildings along the river in the center of Wappingers Falls were a bit tense as the river tried to eat away their foundations and protective walls.

Laurie and I continue to be very lucky when it comes to the weather and our vacations.  Despite all of the rain and flooding in New York and Pennsylvania, we only had rain for about a day and a half on this trip…and that always seemed to happen when we were driving or when we were somewhere where we had an indoor attraction planned. 

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave