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Major flooding on the mountaintop

Report or discuss current events in the Catskill Mountains.
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mike
Posts: 1442
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm
Location: Ravena, NY

Major flooding on the mountaintop

Unread post by mike »

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This bridge is in between Tannersville and Windham. This is the bridge that was lost to the floods of March of 2005. The town decided to build it so high that water would never rise to the top of the arch again. Never say never! Our truck was standing in 2' of water on the road when we took the picture.

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This is the new dam at Colgate Lake. The walkway on the right side of this picture is under 3' of water. The emergency overflow is full of water, but not overflowing yet. We couldn't get over there to see how close it was to overflowing.

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This is just below the Colgate Lake Dam. The road was under water in multiple places.

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This is just before the top of Kaaterskill Falls. Was not willing to get close to the edge of Kaaterskill Falls. Lots of slick clear ice there. The water was part way up the large rock on the right side of the Falls.

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This is the upper part of Rt 23a from Haines Falls. This part never has water running. But, today it is running. There are many places where the water was running down the hillside. If you look to the right you can see Viola Falls!

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This is what Lake Creek looks like on the path up to Kaaterskill Falls. Quite dangerous. This what it looked like after the water had gone down.

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Bastion Falls after the water had gone down significantly. The FedEx guy told me that was was splashing on the right side of his truck as he drove by this morning. Not sure if it was excessive water spray or solid water. To the left side of Bastion Falls, water was running down the bank and onto the road. About 1/2' deep there.

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Friar Tuck Inn under 6' of water. Water was up to Rt 32. The farm at the intersection Rt 23a and Rt 32 is under water (the fields). The water is completely covering the fields, and is up to the edge of the road on both Rt 32 and Rt 23a.

In the section of road between Rt 32 and Palenville is under water also.
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dave
Posts: 712
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: Acra New York

Re: Major flooding on the mountaintop

Unread post by dave »

Yikes!

Heard that they lost the bridge in between Hunter and Lexington.

Has anyone gone down to Platte Clove and Devil's Kitchen?
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mike
Posts: 1442
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm
Location: Ravena, NY

Re: Major flooding on the mountaintop

Unread post by mike »

I checked some of the trails this morning.

With the dramatic drop in temperatures, the snow melt stopped, and the streams receded quite quickly.

Some of the towns are out fixing roads, ditches, and culverts.

By tomorrow, everything should be back to normal.

The snow is hardpacked where the trail is, and crunchy off the trail. Microspikes and snowshoes will be needed. The trail by Blackhead had 1' of snow. On top, the snow is probably around 1-3' deep.

I checked a couple trails and roads this morning (KHP & Blackhead PA).

When the temperatures dropped dramatically last night below freezing, the snow melt stopped, and this allowed the streams to drop dramatically also. Which is very good news.

Big Hollow Road was closed yesterday as flooding was a problem. But, this morning the road is open. Town of Windham was working hard to fix problem areas. Got up to the Blackhead PA. You can drive in, but the road is icy. I had a 4WD, but choose to not get stuck again. Microspikes were needed. Someone had plowed part of the parking lot prior to the rain. If you choose to drive in, bring a bag of sand, and stay on the crown of the road.

The stream just above the Blackhead PA overflowed, and it flowed down into the PA. The stream has receded quite nicely, but is difficult to cross. About 1-1/2' deep and running good. Didn't get up to the bridge, but I am assuming that it is still there.

I checked the bridge to Acra Point. Water came up to the bridge, but didn't go over. Bridge is Okay. Getting across the other stream is impossible today. Maybe okay tomorrow.

Oh yeah, it was snowing at the Blackhead PA when I was there. Just enough to cover up the clear ice.

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The bridge to KHP (from Rt 23) is still there. It moved around the foundation, but is crossable. Probably deep water in the usually place just after the bridge. May be okay towards the end of the week. For now, I would take the path from Big Hollow Road. That road is open.

It is going to be very cold this weekend, so conditions should be good. The trails are hard and can we walked on with microspikes or snowhsoes. Get off the trail and the crystallized snow is crunchy and soft. Definitely need snowshoes off the trail. Can't say if you will need cramp-ons for Blackhead.

The Batavia Kill Recreation Area is under at least 10' of water.

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mtnclimber
Posts: 496
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:46 pm

Re: Major flooding on the mountaintop

Unread post by mtnclimber »

Sounds like the water level went up as fast as it went down. Thank god! When it got cold the snow stopped melting. This really saved the day!

The situation with Frair Tuck Inn just keeps getting worse. Only one bidder, who turned out to be a fraudulent buyer. Did we ever get a name on that guy? Then we hear that Ulster Savings Bank wants to take over the property by a debt credit bid. Now just silence and no progress. Now, it is flooded. It will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix it. Then who will want to buy it?

They will have to build a dike to prevent it from future flooding. That would be very expensive fix.

Can the situation with Frair Tuck Inn get any worse?

I heard rumors that South Lake overflowed the dam. Can anyone verify this? Maybe this is why they had so much water in the Morning.
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dave
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Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: Acra New York

Re: Major flooding on the mountaintop

Unread post by dave »

I think they got the name of the guy, but have not been able to see him in person. He is still in the picture, but will not make himself available. Probably would be served with a complaint if he did. To make matters worse, there were a lot of people interested in the hotel, but only one person bid? there have been rumors that the auction was rigged. Have not heard anything from the NYS Bankruptcy court lately. But, this flooding will just make matters worse. I am not sure what Ulster Savings Bank is going to do. They are the ones who are really going to pay for this mess.

I didn't really realize the amount of flooding at Colgate Lake Dam until it was explained to me. The lower straight section of the wall is the high water mark. It looks like the lake was a good 5-10' over flood stage. It would be interesting to learn how close it was to going over the emergency overflow. An incredible sight!

Maybe we can get Mike to take pictures of the same place after the water has gone down. This would be a good comparison for people.
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