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 Columbia County. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county which resulted in many road washouts. The most significant flooding occurred along the Hudson River and in the eastern part of the county near the Berkshire Mountains. Heavy damage occurred to town roads in the Towns of Hillsdale, Austerlitz and Canaan. In the Town of Stuyvesant 12 families were evacuated due to the flooding Hudson River. The sewer plant in the Town of Greenport was damaged. In the city of Hudson heavy damage was incurred to the boat launch and Amtrak service from Albany to Poughkeepsie was stopped due to ice on the tracks from the Hudson River.