Flooding in New York, January 19 to 21, 1996

An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Ulster County. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county which resulted in many roads being washed out. Extensive flooding also occurred along the Hudson River and Esopus Creek. In the mountainous terrain of Ulster County road washouts were more numerous. In the Town of Shandaken five town roads were destroyed and several homes were damaged. In the Town of Hardenburg three quarters of the roads were washed out. In New Paltz homes were flooded near the wetlands along route 299 due to the Wallkill Creek. Flooding also occurred in the Towns of Denning, Olive, Woodstock, Saugerties and Kingston. Evacuations occurred in the Phoenicia-Shandaken area and in the Town of Kingston.