Town of Washington is in good shape after Hurricane Irene

WASHINGTON — Hurricane Irene flooded news stations before hitting land, as East Coast residents were continually cautioned about the severity of the storm. The deluge of news images continued during the hurricane (for those with power) and after the hurricane, showing images of affected areas up and down the coastline. Surprisingly, New England took a hard hit by Irene, though the Harlem Valley was spared from the worst of the storm. Highway Superintendent James Brownell said the town of Washington was among the fortunate. “We were extremely lucky in terms of flooding and damage; we got it, but it could have been a lot worse,” said Brownell. “There were two roads closed with water running across the road into major pipes. All the roads were open that we could [manage], but the water still needs to recede before we can do any more work.”Brownell said that dirt roads held up fairly well during the storm, and almost all of those roads have been worked on and repaired by Brownell and his team since the storm. There is still some work to be done, however.“One problem we were worried about was the dam, but we are extremely fortunate,” said Brownell. “The problem is the water brings all the garbage from the forest out and snowballs on to the roads and pipes. But about 80 percent of the roads are open now because of good fortune.”Brownell said that the culvert pipes which lead to the valley could not handle the excessive amounts of water and debris from the forest rushing through them. The water was continuing to rise rapidly on Sunday, although the rain had finally stopped by then and the water then started to recede. Within two hours the water that had been rising to 7 feet at its peak dropped down by a foot. In the final analysis, however, the valley ended up receiving a lot of water. The town also had to deal with power problems.“In terms of power there were several trees down,” said Brownell. “People went without power from 8 a.m. Saturday until Sunday night when it came on. Customers on Jamieson Hill and Stanford Road were without power the longest. Now most of the houses have power back on, which is my feeling from observing the town.”Brownell said that altogether repairs from the storm should come to about $20,000.Robert Collocola, highway superintendent for the village of Millbrook, also said that most of the damage from the hurricane has been dealt with.“Half of the village was out for 12 hours on Sunday,” said Collocola regarding the power. “Most businesses weren’t open anyway. As far as damage we really had very few trees down. We lost three trees that have been cleaned up and taken away. As for traffic problems caused by trees it, ended up in good shape. “We did have some flooding on Stanford Road at the dam, which flooded over the road for probably six hours, but once the rain stopped it subsided,” he added. “The flooding didn’t affect any houses. Everything seems to be back to normal right now; we are back to normal business.”