Posted on 10/09/2005 11:35:21 AM PDT by Born in a Rage
Flooding in N.H. Prompts Evacuation
By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI Associated Press Writer
KEENE, N.H. (AP) -- Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes Sunday after more than a day and a half of drenching rain washed out roads and flooded homes across the state.
Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency and called in 500 National Guard members to assist in flood relief. At least one person was killed when a car went off a washed-out bridge, said Pam Walsh, the governor's spokeswoman.
"This is classic river flooding," said Jim Van Dongen, spokesman for the state Emergency Management office. "It's been raining since Friday night and there is nowhere for the water to go."
The most severe flooding was in Keene, where some major roads were under as much as four to six feet of water, according to fire officials. About 500 people were evacuated to the city's recreation center, officials said.
In neighboring Stoddard, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch and residents also were told to leave.
Emergency officials were carefully watching the Highland Lake damn in Stoddard. The Weather Service said if the earthen dam fails, a six-food wave of water could hit Mill Village, South Stoddard and other areas in the southwestern part of the state.
At times, rain fell at a rate of two inches per hour, forecasters said.
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Oops. Somehow I posted the title of this article twice.
No kidding? The Widest Main Street in the country is under water?
Yup. I wonder if we'll still be able to have the Pumpkin Festival. I hope the stores aren't all damaged.
It's not THAT severe...the local authorities have it all under control.
Link to Pumpkin Festival info:
http://www.pumpkinfestival.com/default.asp
I've been to Keene several times, but not in the last few years. It is such a pretty town, and I always enjoyed visiting there. Unfortunately I see they always vote Democrat in presidential elections. Pretty sad. NH seems to be going over to the left. I hope they don't get as bad as VT.
Anybody wanna take a shot at this?
Wow. I never noticed that! Good catch.
Sorry, you're too late - Keene is already as bad as Vermont - every time we go through there - it seems like there's a crowd of smelly, birkenstock wearing, stringy haired senior citizens waving peace-queer posters or supporting Al-Jareeza or complaining about gun control while they stand around the square in the middle of main street.
That's a shame. I guess the old stereotype about quaint towns and rural areas being solidy Republican is long gone, at least in northern New England. I wonder how much longer Sens Gregg and Sununu can last.
As recently as 1988 NH went heavily Republican for president. Was it all an influx of lefties from other states that turned the state competitive, or even leaning Dem? Or is it perhaps a question of wimpy "moderate" Republicans believing the evil "Christian right" is going to overtake our lives? I think that is a problem in many suburban towns here in CT that used to lean Republican. Now a lot of moderate voters think Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson run the GOP. Nonsense.
I used to think it was the influx of immigrants - but in the last election - the 'south' where most of the immigrants live went pretty solidly Republican (except for places like Nashua and Keene) and it was the 'north of the notches' crowd that pushed the state into the Blue camp. There were a lot of wimpy Republicans that felt the national party had ignored them during the campaign, so they sat on their hands. I think NH has gone pretty soft, there are those who think that is why the 'Old Man of Mountains' crumbled - it was said that it was a sign from God that he made men in New Hampshire - that appears to be false advertising now.
I'm originally from Connecthedots but left after the wangerweiker fiasco.
I spent many vacations as a child and in my later years on vacation in NH and ME. Franconia Notch in NH and Lake Sebago in ME.
I'm heartbroken by what has happened in those states regarding the drift to the left...I now live in CO, have for the past 13 years, and now I'm heartbroken again by what I see happening here........if anyone on this site thinks "communism" is dead, they better wake up...Marxism is alive and well right here. Call it the NWO...call it anything you want...it's here.
I have updated my FMCDH (From My Cold Dead Hands) sign-off with the addition of (BITS).....Blood In The Streets, which I foresee coming soon, due to the enormous increase of the Marxist progressive movement being shoved down the throat of this failing REPUBLIC through the Judicial tyranny of fiat law, the passing of unconstitutional laws by the Legislative and Executive branches of our government and the enormous tax burden placed upon the average American to support unconstitutional programs put forth by Marxist ideology.
I do not advocate revolution. I only think of what I foresee.
FMCDH(BITS)
I drove home on I-89 from Concord in this storm last night. I'll admit; it was certainly raining pretty hard, although I've seen worse. The rain knocked over a pepper plant or two in my garden last night, but that was the extent of it.
Keene State College in Keene is extremely PC. Someone I know was interviewed for a faculty job there. He was interrogated for 45 minutes on his commitment to diversity and tolerance by the school's "social equity" office. The clear implication was that if he was unwilling to support campus gay rights and other groups, he wouldn't be accepted there and wouldn't get tenure.
Too bad the place is flooded. He's probably glad he didn't get the job.
No kidding. I took my wife down to Margarita's for dinner, and 'Farenheit 9-11' was playing at the art theatre next door. We went back for dinnner THREE MONTHS later, and 'Farenheit' was STILL playing. Half the movie's box office must have been banked in Keene.
They had the movie there and then they showed it again a few months later along with a bunch of other political movies - a 'political film festival'.
Updated article:
Floods Blamed for 3 Deaths in Eastern U.S. By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 30 minutes ago
Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes after a weekend of drenching rain washed out roads and flooded homes in states from North Carolina to New Hampshire. At least three deaths were blamed on the storm.
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency Sunday and called in 500 National Guard members to assist in flood relief. Transportation Commissioner Carol Murray said police and highway crews blocked damaged roads before dawn, a move that likely prevented injuries.
"A quick assessment is we're probably looking at months, not weeks" to make repairs, she said.
The most severe flooding in New Hampshire was in Keene, where some major roads were under as much as 4 to 6 feet of water, fire officials said. Keene Fire Chief Gary Lamoureaux estimated 30 to 40 percent of the downtown area was under water. Keene State College canceled Monday classes and told out-of-town students to stay away.
About 500 people were evacuated, and about 150 were staying at a shelter in a recreation center Sunday. In nearby Stoddard, residents were also told to leave. Officials heard reports that houses washed into rivers, dams were breached and bridges in several communities were washed out.
"I looked out my window and all I could see — straight down — was water, right up against the building," said Sean Weeks, 19, who was awakened by firefighters around 3:30 a.m. and told to evacuate.
Weeks said he saw a house across the street collapse into the raging water. No one was in it at the time. By late afternoon, police allowed him to return home to grab an armful of belongings: clothes, a construction tool belt, a backpack and a rifle.
At least one person was killed in New Hampshire when a car went off a washed-out bridge in the town of Unity, said Pam Walsh, the governor's spokeswoman.
In Pennsylvania, a person died after a car struck a guardrail in Bucks County and flipped into a creek, trapping the driver. A car accident in New Jersey killed a 2-year-old boy, police said.
Pennsylvania authorities rescued two boys from an Allentown creek on Saturday after their inflatable raft overturned. As the boys clung to a small tree, firefighters tossed them a pair of life jackets and then pulled them to safety with a rope. Authorities said a family was rescued from an apartment when a retaining wall collapsed, and another six were evacuated from a mobile home park.
Eight-foot-high flood waters from the Ramapo River caused officials in New Jersey's Bergen County to evacuate about 30 residents Saturday night and early Sunday, Mayor John Szabo said. Rain also knocked out electricity to as many as 6,000 utility customers across the state.
Chris Finn, 46, said there was 3 to 4 feet of water in his Oakland, N.J. neighborhood.
"There are people that kind of joyride in canoes through the neighborhood," Finn said, looking out his window.
In Vermont, more than 200 people, including residents of a Brattleboro senior citizen home, were evacuated Saturday night.
In North Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley warned residents to stay away from swollen rivers and creeks, already high from Hurricane Ophelia last month. The state's Department of Transportation reported 41 roads closed because of flooding.
The National Weather Service reported that more than 5 inches of rain fell in Wilmington, N.C., on Saturday. Allentown, Pa., received 10 inches between Friday and Saturday. New Jersey's Brunswick and Pender counties saw between 7 and 10 inches of rain in four days.
"They didn't predict this much rain," said Joan Kinney, mayor of Boiling Spring Lakes, N.C., which unofficially measured more than 15 inches of rain. "It took us all by surprise."
___
Associated Press Writer Chris Newmarker contributed to this report from Trenton, N.J.
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