Photos from Allegany and Steuben Counties and Pennsylvania; County Road 36 between Jasper and Canisteo is closed until further notice
Our readers have sent us videos and photos and given their permission to publish them, beyond the work we have collected with the Wellsville and Hornell Sun.
John Anderson was a guest on Fox News and The Weather Channel today.
He was interviewed by the Associated Press, ABC, NBC and CBS. Photos and videos from The Sun and our readers were provided to several national media outlets.
More photos and a gallery after this video. South Canisteo video by Sarah Piguet, dog rescue by Josh Potter:
Here is a photo by Nancy Wyant of the damage at Jasper-Troupsburg Central School. After so much work was done at the school following the last flood, this is what happened:
In the photo below, State Route 36 between Canisteo and Jasper in Steuben County is closed until further notice due to debris on the roadway and this bridge is no longer operational just before Gravel Run Road. Photo by Steuben County Firewire.
This is from the Weather Channel website:
(5:37 p.m. ET) “They had to call in the military”
While water levels are receding in some areas, cleanup efforts will take a long time, particularly in parts of northern Pennsylvania and southern New York.
New York Governor Kathy Holchul has declared a state of emergency for the entire state.
John Anderson, a resident of Wellsville, New York, who reported for the Wellsville Sun today, described the day there in an interview with The Weather Channel:
“The first thing that happened was there were so many volunteers. This is a rural area south of Buffalo on the border. So it’s a two-state, five-county, six-county area. A lot of fire and EMS volunteers went out, they rescued people, they rescued animals.
All this while hundreds of bales of hay are being thrown past, sheds and trees are being uprooted, and you see a lot of debris being thrown past from people’s basements.
They knew how serious the situation was.
The streets flooded so quickly that you couldn’t get through, but eventually … it got so crowded that they had to call in the military.”
A photo by Meg Bradley-Horey shows where the hay bales landed in Canisteo.
You can see the devastation before the eyes of the residents:
Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press report by writers David Sharp, Michael Hill, Mark Scolforo and Patrick Whittle. (Read the full story HERE)
As heavy rains from Debby’s remnants lashed the Northeast with severe flooding, emergency crews in rural areas of New York State and Pennsylvania began flood and helicopter rescue operations for people trapped in cars and homes.
The worst flash floods to date in New York State occurred in villages and hamlets in a predominantly rural area south of the Finger Lakes, not far from the Pennsylvania border.
In Steuben County, which borders Pennsylvania, authorities ordered the evacuation of the towns of Jasper, Woodhull and part of Addison, saying people were trapped because numerous roads had become impassable due to flooding.
In the hamlet of Woodhull, a stream swollen by rain flowed so wildly that the water swamped a bridge. Local resident Stephanie Waters said the debris that hit the bridge included pieces of sheds, branches and uprooted trees.
“It was scary to hear the trees hitting the bridge,” she said.
Fire Chief Timothy Martin said everyone in Woodhull is safe, but “every business in Woodhull is damaged.”
John Anderson said he watched the floodwaters rise quickly, overwhelming some vehicles in Canisteo in Steuben County and nearby Andover in Allegany County. “It’s not a slow rise. It was very violent,” said Anderson, who reported for The Wellsville Sun. He said he watched people’s belongings being swept away by the rushing waters.
A link to our initial report with more photos can be found HERE
A slideshow with 18 photos from photos and videos:
