At the end it is good news that you projected and budgeted conservatively, which would provide for emergencies. They always happen.

good luck with that

I don't think I have it too bad. The contractor says the flooding was restricted to the baement and it's dry now. No structural damage as far as he can determine. I guess some houses were shifted on their foundations due to high winds, and others had much, much worse flooding. Quite a few have been condemned.

My property is past and to the right of the big tree in the upper right-hand corner of the picture. The ground is higher on my side of Route 5S, and my yard is actually raised up a little higher than the 'dry' grass in the foreground.

http://www.fox23news.com/Photo.aspx?content_id=f80646be-3f46-4d9e-91c6-eb2042bb3b8a&i=2

Welcome to the joys of home ownership! I though that was what I wanted my enntire life. Now, apartment living with a pool I don't have to maintain and grass I don't have to mow and pipes I don't need to fix is HEAVEN.

Holy cow, I found a picture of the flooding taken from the back of my two family in Rotterdam Junction!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jescanary/6093594640/

The house on the right is mine, and the view is down my driveway, with my neighbor's house on the left and looking out across the street. Man, I can't believe how bad the south side across route 5S was hit as evidenced by the water up to the middle of the first floor windows!!!

I'll be stopping by there Saturday on my way to the Adirondacks for a week's vacation. Now I'm really anxious after seeing the devestation.

Here's the entire slideshow taken by Jes.

http://www.flickr.com//photos/jescanary/sets/72157627422606543/show/

The south side of route 5S slopes down into a depression where the old Erie Canal ran through. It's also boxed in by a big hil/small mountain (about 400 feet high. As I understand, the Mohawk River came up and in from the North, and the runoff from the storm was channeled by the old Erie Canal and the hill on the south.

There are only three exit/entry roads into the junction, and there was no warning given. Some people actually had to bail out of second floor windows as the waters rose so suddenly and unexpetedly, and some spent the better part of two days on the side of the hill until rescuers in boats made it in.

My God, it looks terrible!!! Is the house next to a river? how come all this flood around the area? Is this a flooding zone?

I am so sorry to see this and I certainly hope that the problem is not too bad... these photos are scary.

It's being called a 500 year flood event. It's right next to the Mohawk River Barge Canal, which is the latest incarnation of the old Erie Canal. The lock system has always prevented this type of flooding, but not this time. It's never been flooded before to anywhere even close to this. Maybe overlapping the river banks, but never coming into the town and flooding streets and houses.

Prattsvile, Middleburg and Schoharie got hit much, much worse. Irene dumped almost 14 inches of rain in Greene County in the Castkills. That is all drained by Schoharie Creek, which feeds the Mohawk River which in turn feeds the Hudson River.

The people on the south side or State Route 5S are the ones that got creamed. That side of the road dips down into a depression that the original Erie Canal ran through, and it's bordered further south by high hills. Between the depression, rising Mohawk River and storm runoff from the hills to the south, it was a disaster.

What makes it really bad is there was absolutely zero warning, and all three roads were cut off, effectively isolating the hamlet for two days. The only relief was from the surrounding volunteer fire companies marshalling anything that could float and coming to the residents' aid.

I'll be out there tomorrow to check out my property. I might get approved today for National Grid to reconnect my electricity so the contractor can resume rehab work. Just some mud in my basement and no structural damage and no water made it into the first floor.

My heart goes out to my ex-neighbors and the other folks in New York and elsewhere impacted by Irene.

Just heard back from my contractor. Both my breaker boxes must be replaced and the ground rerun outside the house before National Grid can turn the power back on.

I'm so very lucky considering almost all my neighbors on the other side of the street are facing total devestation. My prayers go out to them. It's so very sad.

See if you can have breaker box put up stairs since you live in flood zone.

Glad to hear your unit is undamaged!

It really does look just awful.