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The Hudson Valley Thread

IrishRob17

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TJay

TJay

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Damfailure devastates Tuxedo

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2011/09/16/the_chronicle/news/1.txt

Dam failure devastates Tuxedo

Tuxedo — Town of Tuxedo engineers say failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam was the major cause of the catastrophic flooding in Tuxedo after Hurricane Irene.

Tuxedo Supervisor Peter Dolan said 100 million gallons of water gushed into the Ramapo River once the concrete dam broke.

The intensity of the surge caused a “dynamic” eight foot wave of water to rush down the Ramapo, destroying almost everything in its path.

That eight-foot surge, added to the already rushing Ramapo, flooded 103 homes in the East Village section, twisted railroad tracks, and caused major damage to Metro North’s Port Jervis line, particularly in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas. Echo Lake is now essentially empty.

The dam is five miles from the East Village, with twisted railroad tracks in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas located about a mile south, Dolan said.

“When you consider the failure of the dam and volume of water those 100 million gallons is, and it gushing through the East Village and on those railroad tracks, the destruction is astronomical,” said Dolan.

SOS Fuels co-owner Jeffrey Spiegel said Wednesday that the force of the wave also shifted a 250,000 home heating oil tank four to six feet on its foundation.

“I never thought I’d be using the phrase 'dynamic wave,’” said Spiegel. “That’s a heavy tank with a lot of oil in it....100 million gallons of water. That’s a crazy amount of water.”

In a letter mailed to the community earlier this week, Dolan said, “We were as prepared as you can be for the hurricane. What we could not have anticipated was the devastating impact of the failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam in Arden....The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation regulates these dams and impoundments.”

Dolan said the dam's owner, Averell Mortimer, "was in shock over this."

“He said it withstood so many hurricanes and weather events," Dolan said, reporting a conversation he had with Mortimer when visiting his property. "He was very distraught and very concerned about it.”

But Dolan has had no communication with the family since their talk. He has no contact information for the family and understands there is now difficulty in getting in touch with them.

Spiegel, the SOS Fuels co-owner, said the dam is supposed to be inspected by the DEC. But his insurance company told him the last dam inspection was 25 years ago.

"It’s considered a low-hazard dam and we haven’t inspected it since 1986,” said DEC spokesperson Lori Severino. “We only inspect these types of dams on an 'as needed’ basis. The focus of our dam safety program is high-hazard and intermediate-hazard dams, and this is not one of those."

Severino added: “Hurricane Irene was an extraordinary weather event. It wasn’t something we could forecast. At this point, the DEC’s role is limited. It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain.”

“They [the DEC] are being as coy as the Mortimer family,” said Dolan. “They told me until they get their final analyses done, they say are not going to make any comment.”

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Logan11

Logan11

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These Mortimers are probably wealthy people related to the Harriman's who built Arden (the mansion). Remember Averell Harriman was a former governor and the owner is Averell Mortimer. I would think they are going to be facing some huge lawsuits....

Damfailure devastates Tuxedo

http://www.strausnew...icle/news/1.txt

Dam failure devastates Tuxedo

Tuxedo — Town of Tuxedo engineers say failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam was the major cause of the catastrophic flooding in Tuxedo after Hurricane Irene.

Tuxedo Supervisor Peter Dolan said 100 million gallons of water gushed into the Ramapo River once the concrete dam broke.

The intensity of the surge caused a “dynamic” eight foot wave of water to rush down the Ramapo, destroying almost everything in its path.

That eight-foot surge, added to the already rushing Ramapo, flooded 103 homes in the East Village section, twisted railroad tracks, and caused major damage to Metro North’s Port Jervis line, particularly in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas. Echo Lake is now essentially empty.

The dam is five miles from the East Village, with twisted railroad tracks in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas located about a mile south, Dolan said.

“When you consider the failure of the dam and volume of water those 100 million gallons is, and it gushing through the East Village and on those railroad tracks, the destruction is astronomical,” said Dolan.

SOS Fuels co-owner Jeffrey Spiegel said Wednesday that the force of the wave also shifted a 250,000 home heating oil tank four to six feet on its foundation.

“I never thought I’d be using the phrase 'dynamic wave,’” said Spiegel. “That’s a heavy tank with a lot of oil in it....100 million gallons of water. That’s a crazy amount of water.”

In a letter mailed to the community earlier this week, Dolan said, “We were as prepared as you can be for the hurricane. What we could not have anticipated was the devastating impact of the failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam in Arden....The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation regulates these dams and impoundments.”

Dolan said the dam's owner, Averell Mortimer, "was in shock over this."

“He said it withstood so many hurricanes and weather events," Dolan said, reporting a conversation he had with Mortimer when visiting his property. "He was very distraught and very concerned about it.”

But Dolan has had no communication with the family since their talk. He has no contact information for the family and understands there is now difficulty in getting in touch with them.

Spiegel, the SOS Fuels co-owner, said the dam is supposed to be inspected by the DEC. But his insurance company told him the last dam inspection was 25 years ago.

"It’s considered a low-hazard dam and we haven’t inspected it since 1986,” said DEC spokesperson Lori Severino. “We only inspect these types of dams on an 'as needed’ basis. The focus of our dam safety program is high-hazard and intermediate-hazard dams, and this is not one of those."

Severino added: “Hurricane Irene was an extraordinary weather event. It wasn’t something we could forecast. At this point, the DEC’s role is limited. It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain.”

“They [the DEC] are being as coy as the Mortimer family,” said Dolan. “They told me until they get their final analyses done, they say are not going to make any comment.”

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TJay

TJay

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These Mortimers are probably wealthy people related to the Harriman's who built Arden (the mansion). Remember Averell Harriman was a former governor and the owner is Averell Mortimer. I would think they are going to be facing some huge lawsuits....

Thanks for the background Rick, I searched Mortimer and found this obit for his father. http://articles.sfga...-tuxedo-park-ny

The thruway was close to being washed away in that area, it was stunning to see the power of what water can do up close. What a mess that would have been. There is a lot of money at sake for the damage, no wonder why no one is talking.

http://www.recordonl...6/BIZ/109160383

"This is the first of many steps Metro-North is taking to restore full train service," Howard Permut, Metro-North's president, said Thursday. "We believe it is an improvement over the bus plan in place for the past few weeks."

Permut spoke at a press conference beneath the Arden Road bridge over the Port Jervis line, where flood waters have washed out sections of the track. He was joined by Orange County Executive Ed Diana, Susan Metzger, Orange County's delegate to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Carl Wortendyke, Rockland County's delegate.

Pointing to trucks that were dumping stone along the track, Permut said the railroad was scouring quarries throughout the Northeast to find enough ballast to repair 50 washouts that would cover two miles if they were combined. To rebuild the railroad through Tuxedo and Sloatsburg, where the damage is severe, he estimated Metro-North would need at least 100,000 tons of fill from 2,500 trucks.

Permut, shouting over the noise of New York State Thruway traffic, still resisted putting estimates on how long the line will be out of service — beyond "months" — or how much the reconstruction will cost — beyond "tens of millions of dollars."

He promised better estimates when the engineering analysis, delayed when Tropical Storm Lee's high waters kept divers from inspecting several bridges, is completed at the end of this month.

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snywx

snywx

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Damfailure devastates Tuxedo

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2011/09/16/the_chronicle/news/1.txt

Dam failure devastates Tuxedo

Tuxedo — Town of Tuxedo engineers say failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam was the major cause of the catastrophic flooding in Tuxedo after Hurricane Irene.

Tuxedo Supervisor Peter Dolan said 100 million gallons of water gushed into the Ramapo River once the concrete dam broke.

The intensity of the surge caused a “dynamic” eight foot wave of water to rush down the Ramapo, destroying almost everything in its path.

That eight-foot surge, added to the already rushing Ramapo, flooded 103 homes in the East Village section, twisted railroad tracks, and caused major damage to Metro North’s Port Jervis line, particularly in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas. Echo Lake is now essentially empty.

The dam is five miles from the East Village, with twisted railroad tracks in the Tuxedo/Sloatsburg areas located about a mile south, Dolan said.

“When you consider the failure of the dam and volume of water those 100 million gallons is, and it gushing through the East Village and on those railroad tracks, the destruction is astronomical,” said Dolan.

SOS Fuels co-owner Jeffrey Spiegel said Wednesday that the force of the wave also shifted a 250,000 home heating oil tank four to six feet on its foundation.

“I never thought I’d be using the phrase 'dynamic wave,’” said Spiegel. “That’s a heavy tank with a lot of oil in it....100 million gallons of water. That’s a crazy amount of water.”

In a letter mailed to the community earlier this week, Dolan said, “We were as prepared as you can be for the hurricane. What we could not have anticipated was the devastating impact of the failure of the privately owned Echo Lake Dam in Arden....The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation regulates these dams and impoundments.”

Dolan said the dam's owner, Averell Mortimer, "was in shock over this."

“He said it withstood so many hurricanes and weather events," Dolan said, reporting a conversation he had with Mortimer when visiting his property. "He was very distraught and very concerned about it.”

But Dolan has had no communication with the family since their talk. He has no contact information for the family and understands there is now difficulty in getting in touch with them.

Spiegel, the SOS Fuels co-owner, said the dam is supposed to be inspected by the DEC. But his insurance company told him the last dam inspection was 25 years ago.

"It’s considered a low-hazard dam and we haven’t inspected it since 1986,” said DEC spokesperson Lori Severino. “We only inspect these types of dams on an 'as needed’ basis. The focus of our dam safety program is high-hazard and intermediate-hazard dams, and this is not one of those."

Severino added: “Hurricane Irene was an extraordinary weather event. It wasn’t something we could forecast. At this point, the DEC’s role is limited. It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain.”

“They [the DEC] are being as coy as the Mortimer family,” said Dolan. “They told me until they get their final analyses done, they say are not going to make any comment.”

I guess I wasnt seeing things when I saw the photos of Echo Lake completely empty on the Orange County OEM FB page.. Not sure if you guys remember me mentioning this

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TJay

TJay

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I guess I wasnt seeing things when I saw the photos of Echo Lake completely empty on the Orange County OEM FB page.. Not sure if you guys remember me mentioning this

Yes I remember, I tried to get more info after you told us you heard this but I couldn't find anything until this showed up in the Goshen weekly newspaper friday.

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IrishRob17

IrishRob17

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I was down in Florida last week so I feel like i jumped right into Fall around here. As I see some of the older trees changing colors I think it will be interesting to see how good a foliage season we have. With all of the rain that we've had recently I'm thinking that the colors will be muted a touch as wet springs with a dry fall produce the best show and we've had anything but a dry fall thus far...

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IrishRob17

IrishRob17

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So far I've noticed a fair amount of leaf drop that contains almost zero color except for a small amount of dirty yellow leaves.

Yeah, IMBY this foliage season doesn't look to be all that impressive. I have a significant amount of leaf drop for this point in the season. My issue is that I have alot of black tar spot on my maples, I've been losing leaves for close to a month now. Tar spoting is really going to dampened the show this year for many.

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TJay

TJay

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Yeah, IMBY this foliage season doesn't look to be all that impressive. I have a significant amount of leaf drop for this point in the season. My issue is that I have alot of black tar spot on my maples, I've been losing leaves for close to a month now. Tar spoting is really going to dampened the show this year for many.

I had to look up black tar spot to see what it was lol . After reading the description, I noticed black tar spot on every tree imby and nearby area including field scrub trees. All this rain has unleashed a fungi firestorm

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IrishRob17

IrishRob17

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What a foliage disaster this year is, especially IMBY. I have well over 50% leaf drop and 90% of those leaves were just brown. I'm going to post some comparison photos from previous years in here some time this week. Just a lot of BLAH! Luckily for me I got to see some decent color up in New Hampshire last week.

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Logan11

Logan11

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It was bad here also. A few weeks of brownish junk, then last week I finally got some areas of nice reds and oranges. That lasted a few days and then the relentless wind all weekend left the trees more than half bare. Another light frost with a low of 33 here this morning (third or fourth), but I have never had what I would term a killing freeze which is extremely late for here.... It doesn't really matter though because most things have died off anyway by now. The ground is a sponge and after tomorrow I wouldn't even dare venture anywhere off the walk/driveway. It won't get better until the freeze up occurs.

What a foliage disaster this year is, especially IMBY. I have well over 50% leaf drop and 90% of those leaves were just brown. I'm going to post some comparison photos from previous years in here some time this week. Just a lot of BLAH! Luckily for me I got to see some decent color up in New Hampshire last week.

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