News stories tagged with "flood"

(03/28/12) During this pledge drive week, we're looking back at the North Country's Year of the Floods. We began with the spring rains and snow melt that sent rivers surging and drove Lake Champlain to historic flood levels.

That disaster unfolded slowly, beginning in April and lingering into early July. On August 29th, a very different kind of flood struck the region.

Tropical storm Irene landed like a hammer blow, triggering flash floods and devastating surges of debris. In this next chapter of our series, Brian Mann looks at those first hours of Irene, when wind and water brought chaos to whole towns.

(03/26/12) During this membership drive week, we'll be looking back at the one big story that shaped much of our news coverage over the last twelve months, a series we're calling The Year of the Floods.

It's a story with two major chapters. Communities are still picking up the pieces from horrific flash floods in late August. But all that came AFTER what was the first record-setting flooding of 2011.

Beginning in April, torrential rains combined with heavy snowmelt, sparking weeks of flooding that caused tens of millions of dollars worth of damages. In part one of our series, Brian Mann looks at the historic rise of rivers last spring that triggered emergencies from Potsdam to Port Henry.

(01/02/12) 2012 is officially underway, but for towns along the Ausable River, there's still a lot of work ahead cleaning up from the floods of 2011. Communities were hit hard by heavy spring rains last year, and then slammed by tropical storm Irene in late summer.

Brian Mann checked in last week with Bill Ferebee, town supervisor in Keene. Ferebee says a lot of progress has been made restoring normalcy in the Ausable Valley. But fears remain that more floods could come next spring.

(10/17/11) Close to 100 people braved the rain late last week to plant trees in communities along the AuSable River devastated by Tropical Storm Irene.

The Lake Champlain Basin "Trees for Tributaries" program, organized by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, aims to restore and protect stream corridors connected to Lake Champlain following historic flooding Aug. 28. Chris Morris reports. more

(10/07/11) The Keene Valley Congregational Church hosts an evening of music, stories and poetry Saturday night (7:30pm), and an opportunity to help those still rebuilding from the summer floods.

Adirondack harpist Martha Gallagher will host the benefit concert. Her home was one of the many heavily damaged by the flooding from tropical storm Irene.

Saturday night's concert, arranged by the East Branch Friends of the Arts, will also mark the release of a new CD that Gallagher recorded recently to benefit flood victims. All the proceeds from the concert and CD will go to the Keene and Jay Flood Recovery Funds. Todd Moe has a preview.

(09/02/11) The State Superintendent of Insurance is warning that insurance companies are telling some flood victims that damage from Hurricane Irene is not covered. As Karen DeWitt reports, he says that's just not correct.

(08/30/11) Clean-up efforts area already underway in parts of the North Country slammed by tropical storm Irene. Congressman Bill Owens will be to looking at damage in the town of Jay this morning along with town supervisor Randy Douglas

But in many areas, wreckage and debris are strewn through whole communities.

In the Washington County village of Greenwich, meanwhile, neighborhoods have been evacuated because cracks were found yesterday in a dam on the Batten Kill River.

Village Mayor David Doonan told the Glens Falls Post Star that it isn't clear whether the cracks were present before the storm. An inspection of the dam by state officials is planned for today.

As Brian Mann reports, communities across the North Country are still taking stock, trying to sort out just how far-reaching the damage from Irene will be.

(08/19/11) Good and bad news this week for those in the North Country who were affected by the historic flooding this spring:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency again denied individual assistance to help recover from losses suffered during historic flooding earlier this year. But farmers, small business owners and many others may be eligible for low-interest loans under a new federal disaster declaration. more

(05/26/11) Scientists say the massive landslide in Keene Valley is now the largest ever seen in New York state.

A half-dozen homes on Little Porter Mountain are still threatened and officials say they're monitoring the mass of earth and rock to determine whether more homes below the slide could be affected. Brian Mann has our update. more

(05/18/11) Weeks of relentless rain have destabilized a massive section of hillside in the Adrian's Acres neighborhood in Keene Valley, which sits on the slopes of Porter Mountain.

Town and state officials say an area roughly a half-mile wide has begun to shift, slumping downward several inches each day.

One vacation home has already been condemned, and one other house evacuated. At least four more homes are threatened.

Brian Mann was on Porter Mountain yesterday and has our story. more