The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Leni Santoro

It was difficult getting around the county today. State Route 52 is a major thoroughfare in Sullivan County and large chunks of it were closed today. But as I traveled around the county this afternoon I was struck not so much by the devastation or the bad road conditions, but by the steadfastness and good humor with which the DOT and the common man and woman in the county attacked the flooding problems.

The first time I started my journey, I began in Parksville, headed west on Route 17 to Fox Mountain Road, then took Dahlia Road into Youngsville. It was pouring rain. Water was rushing down the right side gully on Fox Mountain Road as I traveled up it. The road was starting to erode in spots and I slowed down as a man in a pick-up and I shared what narrow road space there was, I going one way and he the other. At the bottom of Fox Mountain Road there is a beautiful yellow house, and there is a small creek that runs, through a culvert, under the road. It was trying its utmost to ignore that culvert and was starting to cross the road on its own. The day before, water, possibly rushing down from Fox Mountain had already carved mini canyons just to the right of my side of the road. I made a mental note not to return that way, just in case.

The damage to driveways along Dahlia Road was everywhere to be seen. Wherever the rushing waters found an easy outlet to lower ground, such as a driveway, they took full advantage, much to the detriment of the driveway and in some cases the road surface. On the far side of the Dahlia Road hill, any low-lying lawn or driveway was flooded. I was glad to reach White Sulphur Springs. I turned right towards Youngsville. But, before I got to Youngsville I was turned back, just before the bus company. The roadway was flooded and cars were not allowed to pass. I went home to plan a new route and grab a baggie for my camera to protect it from the rain.

The next time I started out I decided to go through Livingston Manor, over the Shandelee Road. Manor looked surprisingly calm when I passed through about 3 p.m. Cleaning from the flooding the day before was still going on and people were wary of what might still be coming. Peck’s Market had closed, as had the JeffBank. I proceeded up the Shandelee Road and down again into Youngsville.

In Youngsville, friends and neighbors were helping to place sandbags in front of the Youngsville Garage. A minor landslide had blocked a portion of the road at the intersection of Route 52 and the Shandelee Road, but by the time I arrived in Youngsville at 4:30 it had been mostly cleared away and Brian Knack and friend were on their way to to the North Branch Road to see what could be done there.

Traveling further on down Route 52 to Jeffersonville I couldn’t help but notice that Lake Jeff looked like the Big Muddy. The water coming over the dam was running fast and furious. I stopped just outside Jeff, where the first bridge to “the island” was already closed to traffic. Venturing further I was stopped just beyond the JeffBank Building.

Due to the enormous strength of the rushing waters,  a portion of the sidewalk to the left – as you enter Jeff- in front of the Blue Victorian, had been undermined and road crews were working diligently, and as quickly as possible, to remove the imperiled sidewalk and repair the damage as best they could in the pouring rain. Cars, at that point, were being re-routed around Jeffersonville and pedestrian traffic was asked to wait till the crews had finished. I stayed about 20 minutes and watched as the first chunk of sidewalk fell into the giant hole beneath it as the backhoe attempted to lift it away. It was retrieved and hauled away and work begun on the next section.

Leaving the men to their work, I made my way over to “the island” via the Schadt Memorial Bridge. I didn’t get far. Water covered the roadway as, the river, free of its banks, ambled through one wooded area on the left, creating lake filled backyards, on its way to the other wooded area on the right. People stood in the roadway or walked around their houses, some sat on porches wondering when the rains would end.

With one last check to see how the men at the Blue Vic were proceeding, I got back in my car and took the very long way around to North Branch. All was well. On to Callicoon, where the sign by the Callicoon Creek read five feet. The Delaware looked muddy and large, but no flooding there this afternoon.

Leaving Callicoon and trying to get back to Parksville was another matter. Route 52, I knew would be closed in Jeff, still I wondered how far I could get before I had to take a detour and so I headed out on 52 past Hortonville. At the junction of 52 and the road to Fosterdale I was stopped again. This time there was flooding across the road in the low lying areas between where I was, on 52, and the Diehl Farm. I was directed to take the turn off toward Route 17B.

Traveling just a little ways up the road, at Kessmer Road, I noticed that the road was closed. Water, almost a foot deep in one spot, (and getting deeper by the minute) was washing across the road. Beyond the water, a car had gone off the road and was stuck, one-third of it submerged, with the water still rising across the field an inching further and further up the road. I took a photo but was unable to speak to those involved, though it was not for lack of trying. The water between myself and the vehicle was crossing the road so swiftly it nearly swept me along with it.

Tired, hungry, and now wet to my bottom, I decided to head for home. The sun started to come out just as I got to White Lake. Kauneonga Lake was filled with the usual Friday night traffic and I headed on to Swan Lake. In Swan Lake the fishing spot, so beautifully landscaped, was cordoned off. There appeared to be some slight damage, but the rushing water was dangerously close to the bridge. Across the street, the park area was submerged and as I drove past the Swan Lake Hotel it was difficult to imagine that just the week before I had stood in the parking lot photographing the Daytop volunteers removing water chestnuts from the lake, for this evening the lake was making a valiant attempt to follow the proverbial chicken and “cross the road.”

Safe at home at last I check the Little Beaverkill rushing past my backyard. I am ever so glad I moved the picnic table before I left for my adventure, for sure enough I can see by the debris left on the lawn I would have been minus a table when I got back if I hadn’t. Well, here’s hoping for a drier tomorrow. Good-nite Sullivan County – Sleep tight (and dry.)

To see more photos or to purchase prints from Flood 2009-Day 2 check out the Chronicle at Zenfolio.