Freezing, flood wreak havoc

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By Matthew Saari and Krystle Morey

Only in the Northeast can communities have 50-degree weather and torrential rains one day, followed by near-zero temperatures and ice the very next.

Friday’s warmer temperatures initially seemed a welcome relief but the accompanying rains brought only headaches to one Whitehall resident.

Duane Oliver, of Elizabeth Street, found his street submerged under nearly two feet of water Friday morning.

“This has been an ongoing problem,” he said.

The rain Friday may have been a storm like any other but for the fact that the storm drains have been blocked. With nowhere to go, the water ran over Oliver’s lawn and washed under his double-wide situated on concrete blocks.

Across the canal in Granville…

Warm temperatures forced ice boulders into the Mettowee River, where they jammed up and caused flooding to at the Granville Little League Field and elsewhere in the village.

John and Christine Cook, of Glen Street, were worried Friday that they may experience flooding in their basement similar to when water levels rose during Hurricane Irene.

When Cook was getting ready for work Friday afternoon, he heard a loud, rumbling noise, which he equated to a freight train of empty boxcars halting to a stop.

“I had no idea what it was,” Cook said.

Then he looked out the back window:

“There were ice chunks the size of small cars piling up right behind my house,” Cook said.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Granville Sentinel. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.