CUDDEBACKVILLE – Tuesday’s heavy rains and warmer weather
is causing havoc with the low lying areas along the Neversink River in
Cuddebackville. Massive ice jams have flooded out the Guymard Turnpike
and Route 209 area, destroying personal property and flooding homes.
Kristina Finnigan, who owns the Oakland Valley Campgrounds with her husband,
Andrew, said the force of the ice jams caused devastation in its wake.
“As the ice came across the land, it kept pushing and pushing and
pushing, it raked the land. It took up the top soil. It took up the road;
the road bed is gone. It ripped up the water lines. It pulled down trees;
it brought trees in from upriver, which knocked down other trees. It crushed
picnic tables,” she said.
Antoinette owns a camper in the in the flooded lowlands.
“Our deck is now sitting under our camper. I have no idea. I won’t
be able to tell until we get into it to tell what is wrong inside. I don’t
know,” she said.
This is not the first time the Guymard Turnpike area has been under water.
Heavy rains typically flood out the area. On Tuesday night, some residents
were evacuated by local firefighters as the waters rose.
