Flash Flood — Columbia, New York

2000-07-15 to 2000-07-16 · near Countywide, Columbia, New York

Wider weather episode

A stalled frontal boundary across eastern New York interacted with a strong upper level disturbance on July 15. The result was a slow-moving low pressure area that formed over Virginia. This low pumped a deep layer of tropical air into the region and resulted in the second widespread heavy rainstorm of the summer. The 3.23 inch rainfall on July 15 at Albany International Airport surpassed the old rainfall record of 1.41 inches set in 1945. Even heavier rain fell across the Mohawk Valley and Catskills. 4.43 inches of rain fell at East Chatham, Columbia County and 5.72 inches at Berlin in Rensselaer County. Exceptional 24-hour rainfall totals included 9.85 inches at Boiceville and 11.97 inches at West Shokan, both located in Ulster County. However, these totals included the heavy rain which fell the previous night. The excessive rains resulted in flooding and flash flooding across Albany, Ulster, Rensselaer and, especially ,Columbia Counties. In Albany County, U.S. Route 9 was closed in Latham, State Route 5 (Central Avenue) was closed in Albany, and Sand Creek Road was closed in Colonie. Many other roads were flooded. In the village of Menands, as well as other areas of eastern Colonie, the rains forced authorities to evacuate several homes with waterlogged basements. The heavy rains also caused futher deterioration along the banks of the Normans Kill near State County Route 443 (Delaware Avenue) on the Delmar-Albany line. In Rensselaer County a state of emergency was declared in the city of Rensselaer. The worst hit area in that city was The Hollow where many places were flooded. A man had to be evacuated by boat from his house. Meanwhile, the city's pumping equipment was damaged. Rapid movement of water uprooted trees. Severe flood damage resulted in the loss of power, natural gas, and water to many streets in Rensselaer. Roads also flooded in Schodack and were closed in Nassau. Six roads were impassable in East Greenbush and several homes were endangered by rising water. Areas of Ulster County, not fully recovered from Friday's flood, had additional flooding Saturday. County Route 101 was made impassable due to water in Olivebridge. All of Columbia County was declared in a state of emergency late Saturday through the mid-morning hours of Wednesday. Small streams overflowed at Red Rock, Austerlitz and Ancram. Residents became trapped in a home on Clark Road in Red Rock as firemen had to give up attempting to rescue them due to quick rising water. The residents were not hurt. In Kinderhook, the Kinderhook Creek overflowed its banks early Sunday morning onto U.S. Route 9. The water flooded the nearby Kinderhook Animal Hospital as well as McCagg Road. In Copake, floods closed Lackawanna, Trout Brook and Twin Bridges Roads. Chatham was by far, the hardest hit community in Columbia County. Forty roads had to be closed along with two bridges due to flooding waters. Ninety percent of the roads in that town were damaged from the floods. One commercial building was completely washed away. A farm foundation on Clark Road was also washed away. An estimated 5.5 miles of roadways were completely destroyed. In the Town of Ghent, The Kline Kill rose rapidly, picking up a nearby house on County Route 9, then setting it back down off kilter on its pilings. The house was seriously damaged. A house in Austerliz was flooded by the Punsit Creek by as much as four feet. The owner's car was completely submerged. A farm was also inundated by the Kline Kill, ruining much of its produce. At least four roads were washed out in Hillsdale. The heavy rains resulted in a significant rise of the Mohawk River. The river went a little more than a foot above flood stage at Tribes Hill for about twenty four hours. There was no river flood damage reported to the National Weather Service.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5164830. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.