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floods

New Flood Mapping Tool For Lake Ontario Region

April 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

USGS Flood Inundation MapperNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released new flood inundation mapping for Lake Ontario, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to assist flood prone communities along the lake.

The USGS Flood Inundation Mapper can help local officials better prepare to protect public safety and infrastructure during high-water events. [Read more…] about New Flood Mapping Tool For Lake Ontario Region

Filed Under: Nature, Western NY Tagged With: DEC, floods, Great Lakes, Lake Ontario, nature

The Great Pumpkin Flood of 1903 & Other Delaware River Floods

October 14, 2021 by John Conway Leave a Comment

Pond Eddy BridgeThe last three weeks of October, 1903 proved to be difficult ones in the Upper Delaware region, as residents attempted to clean up after a particularly devastating flood.

Following three days of heavy rains, the Delaware River crested on October 10th, 1903, destroying several bridges, wiping out the Erie Railroad’s tracks in a number of places, and damaging homes and businesses in three states. [Read more…] about The Great Pumpkin Flood of 1903 & Other Delaware River Floods

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Agricultural History, Delaware River, Environmental History, Erie Railroad, floods, Logging, Pumpkins, Sullivan County, vegetables

Forest Rangers Respond To Lost, Injured Hikers

September 11, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

forest ranger logoNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.

What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Respond To Lost, Injured Hikers

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: DEC, floods, Forest Ranger Reports, Forest Rangers, hiking, SAR, Search and Rescue

The Poesten Kill: Healing & Healthful Waters

August 13, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Joseph Hidley - Poestenkill May 10, 1862 The Poesten Kill is a mid-sized stream that flows off the Rensselaer Plateau in western Rensselaer County toward the Hudson River. It tumbles through Barbersville Falls and winds its way through the towns of Poestenkill and Brunswick, before reaching the Great Falls above Troy. Below there it’s channeled into a long-abandoned canal (hence Canal Street in Troy) that flows into the Hudson.

In the earliest recorded times, fresh drinking water was acquired from the Poesten Kill and from a spring on Hollow Road in Troy (now Spring Avenue, later the farm of Stephen J. Schuyler). [Read more…] about The Poesten Kill: Healing & Healthful Waters

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature Tagged With: Engineering History, Environmental History, floods, Medical History, Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, Troy

Rensselaer County Floods: A Short History

July 16, 2021 by John Warren 2 Comments

Remains of the destroyed bridge in Poestenkill Village, probably during the flood of 1922. This bridge was also damaged in the flooding of 1891 and 1938. Courtesy Poestenkill Historical Society.Floods have been a fairly frequent occurrence in Rensselaer County, especially along the Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill and at their mouths which are impacted by the flooding of the Hudson River.

Two whales that ascended the river and were stranded during exceptionally high water in the Hudson in 1647 died there. In 1654 flooding all but destroyed the West India Company’s garden below Fort Orange and in 1666 Jeremias van Rensselaer reported that “fully forty houses and barns have been carried away, among which our house in which we lived, the barn and the brewery, the new as well as the old are lost also, so that hardly any traces can be found of where they have stood.” [Read more…] about Rensselaer County Floods: A Short History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: Environmental History, floods, Hudson River, Industrial History, Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Troy, Wyantskill

Rivers, Wetlands and Floodwaters

April 17, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_wetlandsOne spring, following heavy rain, I visited the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area in Vermont hoping to capture exciting photographs of the rushing Winooski River. Rather than raging floodwaters, however, I found the river’s floodplain was efficiently – and slowly – accommodating the onslaught of rainwater. [Read more…] about Rivers, Wetlands and Floodwaters

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: amphibians, birds, floods, insects, nature, wetlands, Wildlife

How Hudson River Floods Helped Create Great Sacandaga Lake

March 11, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

1913 Flood takes out bridge at South Glens FallsBefore the 20th century, the upper Hudson River was used commercially as a conduit to ship logs downstream to the mills along the river. Logs were stored in pens, behind temporary dams, and at streamside log landings until the spring melt increased the flow of the river – known as the spring freshet. When the flow rate was right, the the logs were sent careening downstream to the mills. [Read more…] about How Hudson River Floods Helped Create Great Sacandaga Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature Tagged With: floods, Great Sacandaga Lake, Hudson River, nature, Sacandaga River, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

State Awards Mohawk River Watershed Grants for Flooding, Wildlife

November 13, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Mohawk River Watershed map courtesy DECNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced funding for seven projects throughout the Mohawk River watershed.

The grants, supported by the State’s Environmental Protection Fund, will help reduce flood risks and bolster resiliency, improve stewardship and stakeholder engagement, and protect fish, wildlife, and associated aquatic and riparian habitats in the watershed. [Read more…] about State Awards Mohawk River Watershed Grants for Flooding, Wildlife

Filed Under: Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: DEC, floods, Mohawk River, Mohawk Valley, water quality

Dam History: The Proposed Tupper Lake Reservoir

October 4, 2020 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

Tupper-Flooded-Outlined-labels-429x800 I am often dwarfed by the vastness of the landforms which surround me. The glacial lake basin that forms part of the Raquette River Valley is one such formation. The old meandering Raquette River from Raquette Falls to Piercefield Falls twists and turns, almost comes back upon itself for several miles, as it flows towards its mouth on the St. Lawrence River.

At one point it flows into a lake area and makes a series of rather long graceful turns. The already slow moving water slows even more, and the current of the river is almost unnoticeable. Such is the glacial river basin that forms Simon Pond, Tupper Lake and Raquette Pond.  Here the particulate matter, which once came from the surrounding mountains, falls out of suspension.

The slowing of the river as it passes through these lakes, over centuries and centuries, over thousands and thousands of years, since the last glacier, allows for great deposits of earth (sand, mud and muck) to build up on their lake floors. [Read more…] about Dam History: The Proposed Tupper Lake Reservoir

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, floods, Tupper Lake

Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks

October 7, 2019 by Mike Riley 2 Comments

The three span dam at Lock 8 in Scotia in 2013The Mohawk River has been used as a transportation corridor since the beginning of human settlement. Indigenous people used the river to move east and west, as did the first European explorers and those who followed. The river was shallow and relatively slow flowing. Along the 120-miles between Rome and the Hudson river, there are two waterfalls. The largest of the two is near the eastern end of the river, where the water flows over a 90-foot high falls at Cohoes. At Little Falls the river flows over a series of rapids that are 45-feet in height. [Read more…] about Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks

Filed Under: History, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Architecture, Barge Canal, Barge Canal Historic District, Erie Canal, floods, Historic Preservation, Mohawk River, Schoharie Valley

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