2 articles: NY Times / Delaware River

Two articles from The New York Times about the recent flooding on the
Delaware River:

Yes. The New York Times - not The Times Herald Record.

Question:

Is the NYC DEP negligent for property / casuality damages from this flood in
the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey communites south of their
reservoirs at Downsville, NY and Stilesville, NY since the NYC DEP had more
than 20% of water in reserve [sourceRBC] for mid September and also knowing
that more rain was coming from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan along with the
ground being waterlogged from 15 inches of rain from mid July through mid
September. With all of these facts before them - why were they were
reluctant to release water from the bottom of their reservoirs during July
and August which would have resulted no spillage over the top of both
Pepacton and Cannonsville and less damage?

TR
www.delawareriverfishing.com


The Articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/19/n.../19weather.html


Hurricane Ivan's Last Gasp Leaves New York Region Soaked
By ALAN FEUER

Published: September 19, 2004

The remnants of Hurricane Ivan sloshed into New York City and environs
yesterday, shutting down large patches of the city's subway system, causing
New Jersey to declare a state of emergency in four counties and threatening
to flood rivers as far north as Sullivan County, N.Y.

Hundreds of weekend riders were inconvenienced as service on several
Manhattan subway lines was suspended for a few hours yesterday morning.

The 1, 2 and 3 lines were shut down from Times Square to 96th Street because
of flooding from 9:40 a.m. to about noon, said Paul J. Fleuranges, a New
York City Transit spokesman. The 4, 5 and 6 lines from Grand Central
Terminal to 125th Street were also closed from roughly 9 a.m. to noon, Mr.
Fleuranges said.

Mr. Fleuranges said that the F train from Jay Street in Brooklyn to 34th
Street was temporarily shut down because of burning insulation on some track
equipment at the West Fourth Street station.

One frustrated commuter, having suffered through suspension of the F train,
bellowed in the subway car, "This service stinks!" When the F was then
suddenly shifted to the tracks of the A train, he buried his head in his
hands and groaned.

By 10 a.m. yesterday, 2.25 inches of rain had fallen in New York City, said
Geoff Cornish, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University. The
heaviest rainfall was between 8 and 9 a.m., he said, when 1.15 inches was
recorded in Central Park.

The downpour was caused by the tail end of Ivan's warm moist air pushing
northeast from the Southern states and colliding with a cold front that was
already hovering in the region, Mr. Cornish said. He said that the cold
front would most likely bring chilly winds today that could gust up to 20 or
30 miles per hour in New York.

"It will really feel like autumn," he said.

One of the hardest hit areas in the region was Sullivan County, about 90
miles north of New York City, which declared a state of emergency yesterday
morning. One town in the county, Long Eddy, had 5.34 inches of rain by 8:20
a.m., Mr. Cornish said.

Daniel Hogue, the Sullivan County sheriff, said he had closed all roads in
the county except to emergency vehicles. "We don't want any joy riders out
there," he said.

Sheriff Hogue said that the authorities had evacuated hundreds of people
from flooded areas in the towns of Highland, Callicoon and Lumberland. Some
evacuations also took place in the townships of Roscoe and Livingston Manor,
Sheriff Hogue said.

County officials were concerned that the Delaware River might overflow its
banks. Sheriff Hogue said it was likely that, by this morning, the river
could rise as much as 10 feet over flood stage.

In New Jersey, Gov. James E. McGreevy declared a state of emergency in
Warren, Hunterdon, Sussex and Mercer Counties, The Associated Press
reported. Officials in Warren Country were trying to evacuate about 2,000
residents in several communities along the Delaware River.

Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said two
highway ramps in or near Newark - 14A and 15E - were temporarily shut down
by flooding.

In Connecticut, where nearly three inches of rain fell in parts of the
state, a boater died after his 31-foot trimarin capsized in Long Island
Sound near Niantic Bay in six-foot seas and winds of 50 knots, The A.P.
reported.

In Manhattan, at the West Fourth Street subway station, Kate Greenthal and
Leah Brunski, both 23, were desperately trying to get to the Bronx for the
big game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. They had started out on
the 4 train on the East Side, but when they found that it was shut down they
walked west to take the B or D lines.

"When we got here, it was no dice again," Ms. Greenthal said.

In the Bronx, the rain caused a brick retaining wall about 30 feet high by
100 feet long to collapse, sending tons of soil and asphalt slamming into
the rear of two attached six-story apartment buildings at 2770 and 2780
Kingsbridge Terrace, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of
Buildings, Jennifer Givner. No one was injured at the buildings, though all
of the apartments were evacuated, she said.


Ann Farmer, Winnie Hu and Howard O. Stier contributed reporting for this
article.



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/n...20flooding.html


Thousands Evacuated as Delaware River Floods
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

Published: September 20, 2004


TRENTON, Sept. 19 - _Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes
along the Delaware River on Sunday, after heavy rains Saturday from the
remnants of Hurricane Ivan caused the river to swell to its highest level in
decades.

The river spilled over its banks along an 80-mile stretch from Easton, Pa.,
as far south as Trenton, forcing the authorities to close several bridges,
shut down flooded roadways and evacuate homes. There were no deaths or
serious injuries reported, but one house in Phillipsburg, N.J., was uprooted
by the waters and carried downriver several hundreds yards before hitting a
bridge.

Although the waters were expected to crest by 10 p.m. Sunday, a flood
warning was to remain in effect until at least Monday morning, said Sgt.
Kevin Rehmann, a spokesman for the New Jersey state police.

In Trenton, where the waters reached nearly 25 feet above flood level, about
1,000 people left their homes, stretches of Route 29 were submerged and
state workers filled sandbags to protect office buildings near the river.
About 75 people spent Saturday night or part of Sunday at an emergency
shelter in the Joseph Stokes Memorial School, including about a dozen
residents from the Water's Edge home for the elderly in South Trenton, which
was evacuated Saturday afternoon.

Mercer County's sheriff, Kevin Larkin, said that some residents may not be
able to return to their homes until Tuesday.

"We're just telling them, we are going to protect your residences and if you
can just put up with a little discomfort for a couple of days, we'll get you
back to normal," the sheriff said.

Across the river, in Bucks County, Pa., more than 1,600 people were
evacuated, according to Ann Machesic, a county spokeswoman. Some of the most
severe flooding occurred in Yardley, where sections of the town's tiny
downtown were closed and some homes and businesses near the river were
reportedly knee-deep in water.

The flooding came a day after torrential rain pounded sections of
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and upstate New York, leaving five inches of rain
in some communities. On Saturday, Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey
declared a state of emergency for Mercer, Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren
Counties, and by early Sunday, emergency service officials were beginning to
evacuate some neighborhoods near the river's edge.

Joseph Quick, 76, said he was resting in his room at the River's Edge home
on Saturday when teams of emergency workers and staff members led him and
other residents out of the building.

"I'd like to go back," said Mr. Quick, as he pushed his walker in the
emergency shelter. "They pulled me out of my bed."

A meteorologist from the National Weather Service, Joe Miketta, said the
flooding was more severe than it was during the last major flood on the
Delaware, in 1996. Saturday's rains were caused by the remains of Hurricane
Ivan, which killed 70 people in the Caribbean and another 43 along the Gulf
Coast of the United States. In some parts of New Jersey, the rain fell at
one and a half inches per hour, Mr. Miketta said, and when the runoff
reached the Delaware, the sheer volume of water caused the river to spill
over its banks.

By late Sunday morning, the rushing water had risen to within three feet of
the deck of the bridge between Lambertville, N.J., and New Hope, Pa.,
raising concerns that the structure could be damaged or washed out. By early
evening however, the water level began to drop, and local officials said
they believed that the worst danger had passed.

"We're feeling pretty confident that we are going to be O.K.," said
Lambertville's police director, Bruce Cocuzza.

Despite the warnings issued late Saturday, some residents were still
surprised by the flooding Sunday because the heaviest rains fell in
communities far from the river.

Sue Holzmer, of Titusville, N.J., said she was just beginning her honeymoon
in Cape May when she got a call Sunday morning that helicopters were over
her house and the river was flooding. She returned home to find two feet of
water in the basement.

"It never ceases to amaze me, the power of this river," Ms. Holzmer said.

In many communities along the river, the Delaware was watched more in awe
than in fear. With Sunday's mild temperatures and brilliant sunshine,
families walked to watch ducks and geese paddling down flooded streets or
marvel at the rushing river, which carried fallen trees, barrels and
overturned boats.

At Washington Crossing State Park, hundreds of sightseers were snapping
pictures of the rising river as it raced under the Washington Crossing
Bridge. Just north of the state park, most of the homeowners in the
Titusville area were keeping close watch of the rising tide and waiting it
out.

"I don't think it's going to hit the deck," said one resident, Jim Trainor,
sticking a tape measure into the river and noting about 10 inches of leeway
between the river and his deck patio. "If necessary, I could be out of here
in 10 seconds."

"tonyritter" wrote in
:

Is the NYC DEP negligent for property / casuality damages from this
flood in the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey communites south of
their reservoirs at Downsville, NY and Stilesville, NY since the NYC
DEP had more than 20% of water in reserve [sourceRBC] for mid
September and also knowing that more rain was coming from the remnants
of Hurricane Ivan along with the ground being waterlogged from 15
inches of rain from mid July through mid September. With all of these
facts before them - why were they were reluctant to release water from
the bottom of their reservoirs during July and August which would have
resulted no spillage over the top of both Pepacton and Cannonsville
and less damage?

TR
www.delawareriverfishing.com

Why don't you sue them and find out?

How can you ask the DEP to schedule releases in July based upon surprising
hurricane activity in September? That's almost as wrong as using a 50-year
flood event to draw conclusions about a year-to-year management scheme,
which in turn is almost as wrong as using a nasty 50-yr flood event and an
unbelievably horrible hurricane season that's altering thousands of lives
in the South to promote the FUDR agenda.

Scott
(without the Pepacton Reservoir, the Delaware would be a bass fishery)

"tonyritter" wrote in
:

Is the NYC DEP negligent for property / casuality damages from this
flood in the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey communites south of
their reservoirs at Downsville, NY and Stilesville, NY since the NYC
DEP had more than 20% of water in reserve [sourceRBC] for mid
September and also knowing that more rain was coming from the remnants
of Hurricane Ivan along with the ground being waterlogged from 15
inches of rain from mid July through mid September. With all of these
facts before them - why were they were reluctant to release water from
the bottom of their reservoirs during July and August which would have
resulted no spillage over the top of both Pepacton and Cannonsville
and less damage?

TR
www.delawareriverfishing.com

Why don't you sue them and find out?

How can you ask the DEP to schedule releases in July based upon surprising
hurricane activity in September? That's almost as wrong as using a 50-year
flood event to draw conclusions about a year-to-year management scheme,
which in turn is almost as wrong as using a nasty 50-yr flood event and an
unbelievably horrible hurricane season that's altering thousands of lives
in the South to promote the FUDR agenda.

Scott
(without the Pepacton Reservoir, the Delaware would be a bass fishery)

Scott Seidman wrote in message:
Why don't you sue them and find out?
..............

:That might happen in the future if many Catskill / Pocono townships and
businesses begin to ask questions to the NYC DEP about why the reservoirs
were at capacity three days before Ivan hit.
.................


How can you ask the DEP to schedule releases in July based upon surprising
hurricane activity in September?

: A very wet July through early September in the Western Catskills. Over 15
inches of rain - before Ivan. Look at the NYC DEP site. All months from
2004 the actual numbers were over the averages.

TR
www.delawareriverfishing.com
........................

Scott Seidman wrote in message:
Why don't you sue them and find out?
..............

:That might happen in the future if many Catskill / Pocono townships and
businesses begin to ask questions to the NYC DEP about why the reservoirs
were at capacity three days before Ivan hit.
.................


How can you ask the DEP to schedule releases in July based upon surprising
hurricane activity in September?

: A very wet July through early September in the Western Catskills. Over 15
inches of rain - before Ivan. Look at the NYC DEP site. All months from
2004 the actual numbers were over the averages.

TR
www.delawareriverfishing.com
........................