SCHOHARIE _ The Schoharie Creek begins as a tiny stream on the north slope of 3,573-foot Indian Head Mountain in the Eastern Catskills.
It tumbles northwest along state Route 23A, and then feeds into the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Station and the New York City-owned Schoharie Reservoir, before meandering through Schoharie County farm country as an often shallow, rocky waterway barely passable by canoe in some spots.
But nine days ago, the creek raged through the village of Schoharie home of Cindy Mitteager and Bryce Nelson. Nothing was left untouched, and most of their belongings were swept away by the torrent.
"We lost so much," Mitteager, 27, said Monday as she stood in the empty shell.
But she wasn't crying.
"I've run out of tears today," she said.
The creek devastated towns along its path, from Hunter in Greene County to Fort Hunter at the creek's confluence with the Mohawk River. Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.
Mitteager and Nelson are alumni of the State University College at Oneonta and former residents of Otsego County. Mitteager's sister, Wendy Mitteager, is a geography professor at the college and helped coordinate a several-dozen strong relief effort at the home by staff, faculty and alumni over the last several days.
After clearing out debris and reducing the home to not much more than a frame, it is now a waiting game for the couple and many of the other 1,030 residents of Schoharie, which is at an elevation of 600 feet.
"We are at a standstill," Mitteager said.
She said, depending on what an insurance adjuster says, she doesn't know if they can rebuild or whether it will make more sense to move.
"We are one of the lucky few who have flood insurance," Mitteager said.
Many of their neighbors are in similar straits, while others who do not have flood insurance are in a greater limbo, according to Mitteager.
"Many people are afraid to stay. They don't want to stay because they don't want to go through this again," she said.
Feels like home
Cindy Mitteager and Bryce Nelson bought their one-story home nearly two years ago in a village they said "feels like home."
"We were looking for a home for about a year. As soon as we found this home, this village, we were relaxed and fell in love with the community," Mitteager said. "As soon as we set foot on this property, we both felt relaxed."
Mitteager is a speech-language therapist at Cobleskill Central School, who graduated with a master's degree from The College of Saint Rose this summer. She said her first day working in her career field is scheduled for today, with classes at Cobleskill slated to start Wednesday.
Nelson, a geologist with the state Department of Transportation, said he has not yet returned to work.
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Both spoke highly of the village and its residents, noting many neighbors introduced themselves when they relocated from the town of Hartwick — an act they had not seen in other places they have lived.
"The people are very friendly," Nelson, 31, said. "Here, they treat you like family."
The Schoharie Creek was the local swimming hole, a place to cool off.
Nelson said they had wanted to canoe in the creek but hadn't yet had the chance.
The flood
The couple's home at 174 Fair St. is about 750 feet away from the creek.
The previous owner of the home, Dave Taborg, told them a flood in 1996 left three-feet of water in the basement. Other members of the community said a flood in 1955 brought water up to the first floor of the home, according to Mitteager.
But Irene's fury left a water line 5 feet, 8 inches, high inside the couple's home. Outside, the water reached seven feet.
"This is the worst it's ever been," Mitteager said.
As far as they know, the home did not shift off its foundation, but an attached garage did, they said.
The couple said they followed the weather reports on Irene as the storm approached and noted forecasters were calling for up to 10 inches of rain in the Catskills.
"I figured we were going to get a lot of rain," Mitteager said. "We decided to stick it out at the homestead."
Nelson said there did not appear to be any reason for alarm in the day or two leading up to the flood.
"We were expecting it to, at the worst, be like '96," he said.
The day before the flood was a typical Saturday capped by a "date night" of a dinner and a movie at home, according to the couple.
"It was a normal rainy night," Nelson said.
The couple recalled waking up the next day at around 7 a.m. and noticing a large puddle forming in the back yard, which abuts a large farm field. The power went out at about 7:45 a.m., and Mitteager said they made a trip to Walmart in Cobleskill for batteries and a few other items.
"We weren't really thinking much of it," Nelson said.
After returning home, a friend, Dave Taborg, from whom they bought the Fair Street home, stopped by to check on the couple. He said attendance at church was unusually low.
A short time later, the order to evacuate came. The volunteer firefighter who delivered the advisory was about 18 or 19 years old, and his hands were shaking as he met with the couple, according to Nelson.
The initial evacuation site was the nearby Schoharie Central School.
"We decided to take our extra car up there ... just in case," Mitteager said.
The retrieved their three cats _ Jack, Burt and Tipsey _ placed them in car carriers, and gathered belongings, including important documents in a lock-box, laptop computers and overnight bags. A family photo album, by chance left on their kitchen table, was also grabbed.
It was then they heard the Schoharie Fire Department driving around town issuing an alert via bullhorn: "Residents evacuate now."
The couple said they returned to the school only to find that it was being evacuated.
The warning siren intended for use during an emergency at the troubled Gilboa Dam also sounded, according to Mitteager.
"We decided to find higher ground," Nelson said.
The couple said they left the village and briefly checked in with Nelson's brother and his family near Howes Cave.
"They were fine. They were pumping their basement," Mitteager said.
Later that day, they ended up at Taborg's hilltop home on the opposite side of the Schoharie Creek, where they have been staying since, along with several other evacuees.
By 6:30 p.m., the water from the creek began flowing over the pavement.
"(Taborg) said that had never happened before," Mitteager said.
By 7:45 p.m. the water was over the guardrail, according to Nelson.
Below them, pumpkins, round hay bales and large trees crashed into the bridge.
At about that time, a local firefighter, unaware that Mitteager and Nelson now lived there, told Taborg the creek was flowing through his former home, and had smashed in the large floor-to-ceiling front windows. The home's contents were flowing out the back.
"We found out what happened to our house. He said forget everything, it was gone," Mitteager recalled. "I started to cry."
The return
The couple was able to get to their home the day after the flood by passing through a National Guard checkpoint, where they had to show identification.
"It felt like there was nothing to save. I was in shock," Mitteager said.
The living room was empty. Mud filled other rooms. The glass on the floor-to-ceiling windows in the rear of the home were blown out. About 100 gallons of heating fuel coated the basement.
"It was gut-wrenching," Mitteager said. "It felt like there was nothing to save.
Their entertainment center could be seen about 100 yards away in the treeline. Nelson said he found their canoe and kayak wedged in trees about a quarter mile away, along with a bookshelf made by his grandfather _ a precious heirloom.
A 12 feet by 12 feet shed and its contents were gone.
"The living room was empty," Mitteager said.
Clothes, a desktop computer, televisions, Mitteager's reference materials for her new job, Nelson's rock samples, photo albums, furniture _ all gone.
And it was a scenario played out throughout the village, where piles of debris were seen in front of dozens of homes along Fair and Orchard streets on Monday. Mud seemed to coat everything and everyone. Heavy equipment prowled the streets.
With their home now gutted and not much to be done until an insurance adjuster evaluates the property, Mitteager said the volunteer work crew from SUNY Oneonta _ which proved crucial for her home _ will be focusing its attention on other homes in the community.
The couple said neighbors were helping neighbors.
Those not fit for the manual labor of gutting a home helped in other ways, with one couple baking a truck load of muffins and giving them away to workers Sunday morning.
"It is amazing to see the support in our town," Nelson said.
