Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hurricane Irene POUNDING Mountaindale NY

Yes, we can all thank our lucky stars that Hurricane Irene is not far worse than it could have been. That said, our small hamlet is TAKING A POUNDING as the relentless rain pummels our little community. The stream behind the High School is completely out of its bank, the water level within nine inches of the bottom of our small foot bridge. Our segment of the "Rails to Trails is being eaten away, a 22 foot wide foot or deep stream replacing what used to be a viable bike and hiking path...sure that Woodridge Segway and our very own Cinder Track bike shop can use all the help they can get next week trying to get this trail back into usable condition.



The wood retaining wall that contains the stream as it runs under Main Street is holding, but JUST BARELY...if you walk to the back where the stream makes the sharp right turn and heads under the street you can watch the water flowing up from UNDER this retaining wall.



In short, Mountaindale is sitting on the edge, and we need this rain to stop sooner rather than later, or we could have some serious problems coming our way.



UPDATE....



It is 2:02 in the afternoon, and the rain has stopped, the sun shining on our small hamlet. The water is beginning to recede, and if one did not know where to look...IE, up on the Rails to Trails as one example, you would hardly know we had just been through a horrific hurricane. Mean while, out and about, we ended up coming to the rescue of a couple who had gotten themselves into some deep water, but more on that in another post. Just glad we are done with all this.