Eight people evacuated during Wednesday's storm are staying in hotels, officials said Thursday, and highway crews in Delaware County will continue working today to reopen roads in Andes, Colchester and Middletown.
However, county Route 7 _ Cat Hollow _ will be closed for about two weeks and other roads will be impassable for an undetermined amount of time, officials said.
The storm Wednesday was the second time in about a year the area was hit by flash floods. Last year's storm left four people dead, and roadways and homes were washed away.
No one died Wednesday in connection to the storm, officials said. The American Red Cross is housing the displaced residents until Monday, emergency officials said, and an undetermined number of people in affected areas aren't able to leave their homes unless they have all-terrain vehicles.
Richard Bell, director of emergency services for Delaware County, said states of emergency remain in affected areas in the towns of Colchester and Andes, and all roads in those towns officially are closed. Bell said Jim Alton Road and Bull Run Road in Middletown also are closed for an undetermined time.
Colchester highway crews, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and others are working in the affected areas to restore roads, officials said. The alternate route for Cat Hollow, which runs between Downsville and Roscoe, is to take state Route 30 to East Branch and pick up state Route 17.
State Emergency Management Office officials were in Delaware County on Thursday to help with damage assessments in Colchester and Andes, and Bell said a damage estimate may be available today.
``This was a significant event,'' Bell said.
On Wednesday, between 3 and 6 inches of rain fell on the eastern and southern half of Delaware County along the border with Sullivan County, said Mitch Gilt, a hydrometeorlogical technician at the National Weather Service in Binghamton.
Emergency responses
On Thursday morning, crews rescued two elderly people with medical conditions from Holiday Brook Road, said Garen Griffith, a Downsville firefighter who coordinated the rescue.
He said their pond had washed out during last year's flood and they rebuilt it to code. But it washed out again, he said, and crews had to make trails through the woods to reach them. Griffith said as far as he knew, they were OK.
The single ambulance call during the flood Wednesday was for assistance to a diabetic patient, Griffith said, and crews had to go to the patient's Gulf Brook Road home on ATVs to provide medical assistance.
Downsville Assistant Chief Erik Johnson said some equipment has been damaged, and responding to flooding incidents this and last year has depleted the department's funds.
Crews are asking that donations be sent to P.O. Box AC, Downsville 13755.
The Downsville department provided meals to some displaced residents as well as crews, he said.
The Downsville Fire Department Emergency Operations Center at the fire station was to close at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The county emergency response was wrapping up late Thursday afternoon and would switch to a support operation, Bell said. The center in Delhi was to close between 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday and reopen at 7 a.m. today, he said.
About 15 residents evacuated Wednesday spent the night at Roscoe Central School, according to a media release from the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services. Downsville Assistant Chief Erik Johnson said mutual-aid crews from surrounding areas worked from a staging area at Downsville Central School.
Water levels were receding, but in some areas water still was in roadways, Bell said late Thursday afternoon, and Delaware County Electric Cooperative was working to restore power to the isolated homes without service.
Johnson said about 80 people, including emergency personnel, firefighters and law enforcement officials, were going door to door to check on residents.
