St. Lawrence County travel ban lifted, but Debby’s injuries remain | Public Service News
The severity of the situation was made clear when Market Street in Potsdam, near the intersection of Sandstone Drive, Pleasant Street, Elderkin, Canal Street and Garden Street, flooded. Heavy rain from Storm Debby has drenched the north of the country, prompting weather warnings and travel advisories in the tri-county region and a declaration of a state of emergency for all of New York by Governor Kathleen C. Hochul.
Flash flooding is expected in several towns and cities, including Potsdam, Canton, Parishville, Colton, Brasher Falls, Pierrepont, Norwood, Norfolk, Stockholm, Moira, Bangor and Brushton.
The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office lifted a travel ban due to damaged roads and bridges in the county Saturday morning, but left a travel advisory in place.
“Many roads in the county are impassable,” the warning says. “Most roads with flooding or traffic hazards are marked with signs or cones. If you must drive, allow extra time and use caution. If you encounter a traffic hazard, please report it.”
Did Debby’s heavy rain cause flooding or damage to your home?
The remnants of Storm Debby swept across St. Lawrence County Friday afternoon, leaving behind flooded and damaged roads, overloaded bridges and flooded basements.
Route 11, which leads into Canton from the east, was closed when the railroad underpass near the village border was flooded.
Crews from several fire departments, including Canton, DeKalb Junction, Rensselaer Falls and Morley, are helping to clear the Route 11 railroad underpass near the Canton village line Saturday morning. The road to the bridge was flooded Friday afternoon by heavy rains from Storm Debby. Canton Fire Department
Matthew R. Denner Sr., director of emergency services in St. Lawrence County, said at the height of the flooding, more than 100 roads and bridges were affected.
Denner said the New York State Police are using drones to assess road damage.
“We’re trying to figure out what we can fix the fastest,” he said Saturday afternoon.
During the night on Friday, emergency services concentrated on rescuing people, said Denner.
“People were trapped in their homes and some in cars that were packed,” he said.
On Saturday, he said the focus was on recovery, with highway departments from towns with minor damage moving their equipment to towns with more extensive damage.
“They transported gravel and goods to the affected areas,” he said.
While the water levels of the Deer and St. Regis Rivers began to fall Saturday afternoon, Denner said, the Grasse River was still rising. By 3 p.m., the water was only a few feet from the base of the Main Street Bridge in Canton.
Denner said there were concerns about debris being carried into the river.
The Canton Fire Department assisted with a water rescue from a camp near Taylor Park on Saturday morning. A New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services swift water rescue team deployed to Canton on Friday evening rescued residents from the camp using boats.
The parking lot of Stewart’s Shops on East Main Street in Canton was filled with water Friday afternoon. Photo by Susan Mende
The municipality of Canton issued a press release Saturday afternoon saying it was currently assessing the damage.
Just a few weeks ago, residents of Judson Street reported a chaotic night of flooded basements as two storms devastated the area.
The same houses were exposed to the strongest storm on Friday evening.
“We know many homes and businesses are dealing with significant damage and there is much cleanup and repair to be done,” the village’s statement said. “We regret the difficulties many of you are facing.”
The news release said the community will apply for federal Disaster and Hazard Reduction Program funds to repair systems damaged by the storm.
In order to receive federal and state aid, the municipality asks its residents to document their expenses.
“We need to document our community’s losses. It is important that all villagers document the costs and losses incurred as a result of this storm. Keep track of the location, type and cause of damage, and estimates for repair and replacement. The village will set up a way to report this information in the coming days. We will also share any information on how private property owners may be able to receive assistance as soon as that information becomes available.”
The sidewalk ends on the south side of Potsdam High School on Friday evening. Ellis Giacomelli/Watertown Daily Times
In Potsdam, the streets around the Potsdam Central School campus and the Canton-Potsdam Hospital were under water. A pond had formed on the south side of Potsdam High School where the cross canal was flooded.
The canal is a 150-year-old network of underground channels and pipes that served to drain what was then a sparsely populated, agricultural village. The canal is regularly clogged with debris, and even light rain overloads the system. Yards and basements in the neighborhood of Pleasant Street, Waverly Street and Broad Street near the high school are frequently flooded.
Residents of Colton, South Colton and Edwards, as well as other communities, shared photos on social media showing sunken and damaged roads and broken culverts.
Denner said the county is constantly updating the list of closed roads on its website, stlawco.gov.
At the last update on Saturday afternoon, 56 streets were on the list.
According to Denner, several people were injured in car accidents, mainly caused by aquaplaning. No deaths were reported.
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Emergency Operations Center has issued an evacuation order for all residents on North Road, from the St. Regis Mohawk School to the end of the area south of Solomon Road. The area was flooded on Saturday and levels are expected to continue to rise. Emergency officials are reminding residents not to let their children play in the water.
For assistance, residents should call 911 or emergency dispatch at 315-229-3950.
A whitewater rescue team from the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services rescued people trapped in floodwaters at a camp near Taylor Park in Canton. Canton Fire Department
Streets and basements were also flooded in Jefferson and Franklin counties and elsewhere in the north of the country
Further south, water pooled in Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties Friday morning as flood warnings were in effect there from the National Weather Service in Buffalo. Those warnings, as well as warnings from the Weather Service in Burlington for St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, have since been lifted.
According to the utility’s outage map, more than 50,000 National Grid customers in 32 counties in upstate New York experienced temporary power outages Friday afternoon.
Power outages were isolated and limited in the north. About 400 homes were without power in the Russell area as of 5:30 p.m., and a few in Jefferson County. Power was restored in most of the north by Saturday, but power remained out in many areas of Central New York, the Capital Region and the Finger Lakes.
Debby, which moved in from the southeast this week after making landfall in Florida as a hurricane, brought rain to the northeast. The worst flooding in New York was in rural areas in the north and center of the state and in the Finger Lakes, the Associated Press reports. Local authorities have ordered the evacuation of the towns of Jasper, Woodhull and part of Addison in Steuben County near the Pennsylvania border.
Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon and was a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday. Debby made landfall in South Carolina for a second time on Thursday as a tropical storm.
