Communities across New York's Mohawk Valley are working today to dry out and clean up after heavy rains late yesterday caused serious flooding and temporarily closed a portion of the Thruway. Hardest hit was Montgomery County, where County Executive Matt Ossenfort declared a state of emergency.
"Last night, really the critical thing was to keep motorists off the roads. We had debris in the roads, running water...we thought the best way forward would be to declare county-wide state of emergency and then we can assess the situation as we go through the next couple of days here," Ossenfort said. "The Village of Canajoharie, the Village of Fonda, essentially what happened was, we had a big burst of rain in a very short period of time, and it overwhelmed some of the waterways, and it left streets and homes once again filled with water, and what we're starting to understand as the new normal here in the Mohawk Valley. It seems these water events are happening more frequently and we're just trying to stay on top of it and do everything we can to be resilient and help those that could be in harm's way."
