Severe summer storms, torrential rain, and flash flooding have washed out roads, knocked out power to tens of thousands in the Adirondacks and Central New York, and even tornadoes touched down in the Town of Wells, and the City of Rome. This came on top of the flooding & damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl last week that battered New York and Vermont leaving behind millions in damage. Essex County was hit hard.
At the Port Henry town beach and campground, rushing water from the Mill Brook overwhelmed the campground with flood water and mud. Neal Larkin says town officials ordered the evacuation of more than a dozen people from the campground last week after the water got waist high.
Moriah Town Supervisor Matthew Brassard says luckily, no one was hurt, and that the Town is grateful for the help that it got from the Town of Minerva, the Supervisor there sending their fleet of town dump trucks up to Port Henry to help fill in washed out roads. The county’s Emergency Services Director, Matthew Watts, says damage is already above the threshold for a FEMA declaration, which is about $200,000.
Town Supervisor Brassard says luckily, the damage wasn’t as bad at the Town Beach and Campground as it was after Tropical Storm Irene hit back in August of 2011. The damage from Irene was so significant the Town had to close the beach & campground for the rest of the year to clean up & repair the damage.