A potential flooding disaster averted, Albany city and county officials continue to monitor the situation where the Normans Kill creek flows between two golf courses.
A hillside close to the Normanside Country Club in Bethelehem collapsed somewhere between 8 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday, blocking a significant length of the creek that separates the Normanskill Country Club from Capital Hills Golf Course on the Albany side.
A countywide state-of-emergency went into effect 12:30 p.m. Monday, as officials erred on the side of caution, fearing flooding upstream that could endanger homes.
By Monday night, heavy equipment was toiling away at breaking through the blockage. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says that effort was successful. An 8-foot deep 15-foot wide channel roughly 260 yards long was opened up around midnight. "The water is flowing. Unfortunately, water continues to come down, so it is very wet, very soggy, and it's still not safe for people to be walking around back there. But at this point we do have water flowing. It is our understanding that no houses were flooded, so that's good news. We did not have any reports of flooding. We will continue to monitor it."
Sheehan conceded the trench dug through the landslide is only a temporary fix. Although the emergency operation is being scaled back, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple warns the banks of the Normans Kill remain unstable, as trees can still be heard snapping. "Our goal over there right now is to get some sort of fencing up, true fencing, keep people away from it. Listen, that whole are is very unstable. Even on this side, walking up to the stream, I know there's a lot of people that wanna look, a lot of dog walkers, everything else. It's very unsafe. Some of that mud, you'll sink two or three feet in.”
Town of Bethelem supervisor John Clarkson: "This is an excellent example of governments working together. Emergency management systems are supposed to work this way, but working this quickly on the fly on a complex engineering and public works project is a great success. We're very glad that the immediate emergency situation has been taken care of."
Clarkson expects to see "highly qualified geotech engineers" eventually assess the situation and make a responsible decision to ensure future safety along the banks.
Again, Mayor Sheehan: "Clearly there's gonna need to be a long-term solution that's put into place, but, for right now, we do believe that the immediate flood threat has passed."
Sheehan is asking the DEC to close a kayak entry point, explaining it is no longer navigable. And Albany County Executive Dan McCoy says this type of flooding is the new normal for the Normans Kill.
Sheriff Apple added he's concerned about a half-inch of rain expected to fall Wednesday. A state of emergency remains in effect for the time being.
