Christmas brings high water, closed roads; high winds expected

JAY | Last year Halloween brought damaging floodwaters to the Adirondacks. This year Christmas is saying, "Hold my beer." While the floods were not expected to be as damaging as they were in the fall of 2019, Christmas morning still brought fast water and closed roads and predictions that some Adirondack rivers would crest as much as three feet above flood state. In Jay, Highway Superintendent Kevin Zaumetzer was posting community warnings to avoid high water and be prepared for power outages caused by high winds expected later in the afternoon. The temperatures were also expected to drop precipitously, leading to concerns of icy highways. "Winds in our valley areas could gust up to 45-50 mph so power outages are very possible," Zaumetzer said in his post. "The sharp rise in the East Branch is expected in the early hours of Christmas Day. Those of you that live in our flood prone areas should take action now. Stay tuned to your local weather station for updates on the weather event." According to state and county alerts, Route 9 was closed from its intersection with Route 73 north to Lobdell Road in Elizabethtown along the Boquet River, as was County Route 8 from Rt. 9 to Brainard Forge Rd. Flooding was also reported along the Ausable River, which was expected to crest at 10 feet, three feet above flood stage. Other road closings included Lewis: Fox Run Road, closed from the intersection of Cutting Road and Fox Run Road; Keene: Hulls Falls Road and Holt Road closed due to AuSable River backing up the brook and flooding culverts, and Ausable Road, closed because of a culvert plugged with debris) According to the National Weather Service, "Heavy rainfall of 1 to 2 inches, warm temperatures approaching 55 to 60 degrees, and snowmelt will produce sharp rises on local streams and rivers. Rivers may reach minor to moderate flood stage on Friday into Friday night. In addition, minor low lying and poor drainage flooding is possible." Rain was expected to taper off Christmas afternoon. Areas that were expecting flooding included: Wilmington, Elizabethtown, Keene, Minerva, Newcomb, Keene Valley, Mount Marcy, Schroon Lake, Jay In Essex County, North Elba, Lewis, North Hudson, St. Huberts, Underwood, Mount Van Hoevenberg Recreation Area, Mount Van Hoevenberg, New Russia, Schroon Falls, Severance and Upper Jay.

Signup for our newsletter

Christmas brings high water, closed roads; high winds expected

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS