Flooding in New York, February 26 to 29, 2000

A warmup at the end of Feburary, began melting the winter snowpack fairly quickly and helped break up an extensive ice pack on the upper Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. As a result, ice jams developed on the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. During the night of Feburary 27 and 28, rainfall accumulated between one half and one inch and a half across eastern New York. The rains exacerbated the runoff, which resulted in the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, as well as some smaller streams. Most of the flooding was minor. The Mohawk River exceeded bankful between Utica and Cohoes. The gage at Utica exceeded its flood stage of 403 feet on Feburary 27, crested at 406.4 feet on the 28th, and remained over the flood stage for the remainder of the month. At Little Falls, the river went three tenths of a foot above the 15 foot flood stage. At Cohoes, the river rose two tenths of a foot over the 20 foot stage. The river flooded mainly adjacent lowlands from Utica to Halfmoon. However, forty people were evacuated from their homes in Halfmoon as water encroached upon their homes. Water from the Mohawk overflowed onto a small portion of Route 162 in Montgomery county near Canajoharie and Root, resulting in the roadway being temporarily closed. Flooding was noted along the Hudson-Mohawk bikeway, Canal road, Beach road, Towpath road as well as the parking lot of Schenectady Community College. Fifty residences were evacuated in the Crescent area of southern Saratoga county, some by boat. A few residences were also evacuated on Schaffer drive in Colonie, Albany county. The Hudson River overflowed onto the Mechanicville Wharf and also went over the Mohawk Wharf into the village of Waterford. The village of Warrensburg reported some localized flooding as did the Stillwater Flats. However, no gages on the Hudson exceeded their flood stages. The Gilboa Dam barely exceeded its limit of 1132 feet. Excessive water had to be released, which resulted in the Schoharie creek overflowing into Lost Valley and near Burtonsville. The Mettawee river in Washington county crested at 8.7 feet, well over its 7 foot flood stage at Granville. Water from the river inundated several homes in Granville and flooded several roads. The Moose River exceeded its 12 foot flood stage at McKeever by four tenths of one foot. No flooding problems were reported to the National Weather Service. A natural drain clogged in Sharon Springs, Schoharie county resulting in street flooding. Route 20 was flooded and some buildings were damaged. There were no casualties directly related to this flooding, reported to the National Weather Service.