HUDSON VALLEY – Flash flooding has created several hazardous conditions throughout the Hudson Valley on Sunday and the National Weather Service (NWS) has extended the “Flood Watch” through Sunday evening. Orange and Rockland Counties have experienced substantial rainfall throughout the day requiring first responders to answer several calls of people trapped by rising waters.
The Dutchess County Swiftwater Rescue Team, consisting of career firefighters from the Arlington, LaGrange, and Poughkeepsie Fire Departments was activated and sent to Orange County to assist in the Cornwall and Highland Falls areas.
In Dutchess County, a possible lightning strike incinerated a Poughkeepsie Central School District school bus. The fire is under investigation. Also in Dutchess County, the Arlington Fire Department responded to a partial house collapse on Bower Road. Occupants of the house were evacuated and the department’s Special Rescue team spent approximately two hours shoring up the rear of the house to prevent a full collapse.
In Rockland County, portions of the Palisades Interstate Parkway are flooded and the New York State Police have asked motorists to avoid traveling in the area.
In Orange County, large sections of the roads in West Point and Highland Falls have completely flooded, stranding several motorists in their vehicles. Rescue operations were reported to be underway. A dive team was summoned to the Appalachian Trail in the area of Perkins Memorial Drive in Stony Point to rescue a hiker. A swiftwater rescue team was dispatched to State Route 32 and Trout Brook Road in Woodbury for a person trapped in their vehicle that had been overtaken by a flooding stream.
