Sunday, August 28, 2011

Greetings from Floodville

Although New York City escaped with a few puddles lapping around Anderson Cooper's designer galoshes, we haven't been so lucky in points north and west.  I am one of the fortunate third of about 150,000 Ulster County residents who still has electricity, but my town is totally cut off by rock slides and floods.  Several people have had to be rescued from the rising waters, and there have been reports of drivers trapped in cars. In New Paltz, an indefinite ban on all vehicular and pedestrian traffic has been imposed. So while Irene is departing, she is leaving quite a mess behind.  No reports of injuries, but as you can see from this photo album, plenty of damage. (I live on Route 32, which looks like it is collapsing down the road from me!). The people without power look to be without it for days to come, since repair crews can't make it through blocked and washed-out roads. 
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6 comments:

  1. ValerieAugust 28, 2011 at 5:46 PM

    Glad you are one of the lucky few with electricity. My experience with hurricanes is once the wires are down, it takes quite a while to get them going again. Thanks for the pictures and the update. Amazing to see kids and adults alike out there in the flooded areas. I guess the power of nature is something to behold.

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  2. 4RunnerAugust 28, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    Thanx for the slide show, the fotos give a good sense of what you are going thru. This too shall pass. Glad to know you're online & OK.

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  3. John in LafayetteAugust 28, 2011 at 6:47 PM

    While we're all sorry to hear about the damage, we are glad you came through this with body and soul intact.

    If you have any information about local organizations where we can send donations for relief efforts, please post them. I have a soft spot in my heart for New Paltz and the Hudson River Valley.

    Thanks.

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  4. Karen GarciaAugust 28, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    Thanks everybody!

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  5. Kate MadisonAugust 28, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Yikes, Karen! You have had a real catastrophe in New Paltz! I am so sorry, but glad you are one of the lucky onces who still has electricity.

    This may have been only a Category 1 hurricane, but we now know it is the rain and flooding--not just the wind--that make hurricanes so dangerous! Let us hope FEMA steps in and helps repair Hwy 32 and gets New Paltz connected again.

    Meanwhile, take care! Sounds like this is a time for reading and napping.

    PK

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  6. AnonymousAugust 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM

    It is worrisome to read that upstate New York and Vermont are continuing to deteriorate with flooding right now...I hope you will please continue to post as you are able, and also let us know you are safe.
    We are keeping our bathtubs bone dry here inside the beltway to try to stop drownings, intentional or not, perpetrated by federal politicians...Sad that Bernie Sanders is left trying to explain the point of nation during this time of disaster (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/bernie-sanders-on-ron-paul-hes-out-to-lunch/)...that the people of Vermont care about people in the 49 other states, and expect that they care about them.
    We do, and we rely on your intrepid reporting, Karen, to attempt to establish some solid group on which genuine steps in Democracy can be made--confounding the rank swamps on which Washington was built. The whole nation is in need of more solid ground right now. (And let us hope the nuclear plants that just survived the earthquake continue to shut down properly should flooding breach them in any way.)
    "Out to lunch," indeed. Maybe if a few of these politicians missed their dinner for many days as so many distressed flood victims are in danger of doing, priorities in this country would shift. Sigh.

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