Posted on 08/28/2011 3:34:35 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Tropical Storm Irene is hitting the Hudson Valley region hard, with flooding, downed trees and road closures reported across the region.
The storm, which was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane as it reached Long Island, brought winds of 30-40 mph to the region. Those winds have knocked over trees and power lines, while heavy rains have flooded many of the region's major thoroughfares.
The most important of these thoroughfares, the New York Thruway was closed at around 11 a.m. at the Route 17 exchange. At noon, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the closing of the Tappan Zee Bridge, though as of 12:30 p.m., all major mid-Hudson bridges remain open.
Significant flooding has been reported I-87 southbound near Tuxedo, where emergency workers were dispatched to rescue occupants in a vehicle. Several reports of flooding at the ramps of the New York State Thruway and I-84 were being reported, as well as flooding across the westbound portion of I-84 between exits 4 and 3.
Over 25,000 homes in Ulster County were without power, according to Central Hudson. The heaviest concentrations of outages include: Woodstock, Bearsville, Hurley and Olive. So far, no major power outages are being reported in Orange or Sullivan counties. And the number of outages in Orange and Sullivan counties are growing. Orange and Rockland Utilities are reporting some communities are experiencing a handful of outages, including households in Middletown, Goshen, Highland Lake and Wurtsboro.
Fulton Avenue in Middletown is one of the more severe examples of flooding. Fulton and Wawayanda road, near the Middletown Post Office, is awash in two feet of storm water. Police have the roads blocked off. And there are reports of occupied vehicles floating down Fulton.
(Excerpt) Read more at recordonline.com ...
Isn’t the Tappan Zee Bridge about ready to fall down due to poor construction techniques?
The bridge is structurally sound, but apparently obsolete. There’s plans floating around to replace it.
I thought I read that a bunch of the pilings are wooden and rotting.
Yeah, but supposedly NYDOT inspects and repairs/replaces the piling as needed.
We're both old. ;-)
I don’t mean to belitle the problems this storm has caused, but 30 to 40 mph winds?
We get that everytime there’s a fast moving thunderstorm going throught the area. 60 mph gusts happen realitively frequently.
What am I missing here that makes this exceptional?
Rain soaked ground. 30 to 40 mph sustained wind will take a tree over. And has.
Thanks DJ.
Here in our little neck of the woods our ground is basically sand. Even torrential rain leaves no lasting impression for more than about an hour.
I can imagine that a super-saturated, water holding soil would cause the trees to topple over in what I would consider moderate winds.
Prayers to all affected by the storm.
It is a head scratcher until you think about it.
It blows 30 - 40 here in Maui EVERY DAMM DAY!!! Tree’s and power lines don’t fall down. And the ground is soaked ‘cause it rains EVERY DAMM NIGHT!!!
It’s probably DIFFERENT DAMN SOIL.
Wait a minute. Are you telling me that it rains 7 to 10 inches in Maui every night?
Mostly only thin layer of top soil - clay-ish or sand type. Otherwise it’s a BIG DAMM ROCK!!!
Forgot the sarcasm tag. However the West Maui mountains avg. 400 inches a year. Haiku to Hana 100 - 200 inches. Thats the windward sides. The lee sides Kihei to Kaupo 7 inches.
Our ground got so soaked from all the rain that a telephone pole simply fell over. We didn’t even have wind yet. Power was out about 5 hours.
LOL!!!
Your not looking for sympathy are you? :)
Obama's low favorability ratings
I lived in upstate NY as a kid. Every Christmas and Easter we’d drive down to see my dad’s folks in Thornwood near White Plains and crossing the Tappan Zee always meant we were almost to Grandma’s house. The bridge was only about 3 years old at the time and was quite a wonder. I remember Dad always looking south and saying “There’s the Empire State Building!” Good memories.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.