by Rachel Hunter
The North County was hit hard by the remnants of what was once Hurricane Debby wreaked havoc up and down the East Coast as it delivered torrential rains, dangerous flooding, and spawned tornadoes.
On Friday, August 9, St. Lawrence County declared a State of Emergency that reads as follows: “The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby are causing hazardous conditions posing an imminent threat to transportation, utility service, public safety, and public health systems across St. Lawrence County; This storm is producing heavy rains, flash flooding, significant and severe storms resulting in road closures, travel disruptions, potential for power outages, and damage to public and private property, which pose a threat to the public health and safety.
“A State of Emergency is hereby declared within the jurisdiction of the County of St. Lawrence, State of New York, effective at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 9, 2024 and will continue to remain in effect for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days or 3:59 p.m. Sunday, September 8, 2024. The declaration will be reviewed prior to its expiration to determine if conditions warrant an extension/
“The St. Lawrence County Sheriff issued a Travel Ban effective 6:09 p.m. today, August 9, 2024 and it remains in place at the time of the issuance of the State of Emergency.
“On Friday, August 9, 2024, Governor Hochul issued Executive Order No. 38 "Declaring a Disaster Emergency in the State of New York" which currently is scheduled to remain in place until September 8, 2024. Local Emergency orders may be promulgated by the Chair of the Board of Legislators in accordance with Article 2-B of the New York State Executive Law during this State of Emergency. Emergency orders would be issued in order to protect life and property and to allow emergency and municipal personnel time to bring the emergency conditions under control.”
As local media has reported, St. Lawrence County experienced damage to over 100 roadways. As of press time this week on Tuesday, over 60 roads were still closed throughout the North Country, including in the communities of Fowler, Russell, Edwards, Hermon, etc. The current road closure list is posted online at stlawco.gov.
The Gouverneur Fire Department reported that members ran a total of 86 calls from Friday at 4 p.m. until Sunday at 4 p.m. This included one swift water rescue, one rescue of two civilians trapped by water at a camp, two possible house fires with smoke in the dwellings, and one working dwelling fire. The remaining calls were alarm activations and public service request for the flooding. Much appreciation was extended to mutual aid departments for their response in Gouverneur and the surrounding communities.
NYS Governor Kathy Hochul visited St. Lawrence County on Aug. 13, and offered praise for the numerous first responders who assisted in rapidly deteriorating conditions throughout the storm. The sentiment was echoed by local municipalities and others in the North Country community in the storm’s aftermath.
At the Town of Fowler Council meeting on Aug. 12, Town of Fowler Highway Department Randy Durham talked about the swift water rescue on Aug. 10. The Gouverneur Fire Department reported the following: At 1:25 a.m., Gouverneur Fire responded to the area of 439 Country Club Road, Town of Fowler for two individuals in a river screaming for help. While en route members were advised that one person was out of the water and the other one was being taken down the river by the strong current. 11-1 arrived on scene reporting one individual in the water clinging to a tree in the middle of fast moving water. 11-1 requested Swiftwater rescue teams due to the rapid movement of the water. However, due to the response time and length of travel of both teams incident command made the decision to launch our members flat bottom boat to get to the individual as he was in great danger due to the rapid water and time frame of hanging onto the tree. Approximately 300 feet past the individual was a 50 to 70 foot waterfall. Members were able to get to the individual and successfully place him in the boat. Once in the boat members assessed the individual and transported him to the shoreline for awaiting EMS. This was a great team effort with law-enforcement, Gouverneur Rescue and our Department. The two individuals were on an ATV and accidentally drove into a washout in the road causing them to enter the water.”
Supt. Durham reported the following at the Aug. 12 meeting: “Right now we’ve got every road open, except for outer Country Club Road. There’s a big ol’ hole in the road out there. Please don’t drive into it. The last person who tried, we had to do a water rescue. If there is swift water, don’t drive through it. You don’t know what’s underneath it. We don’t need 40-50 guys putting their lives in danger to rescue one guy who wanted to go through the swift water.”
Town of Fowler Councilman Lynn Bishop asked: “Is there room for bigger culverts out there, Randy?”
Supt. Durham said: “We are going to put two five-footers in. That’s what we are going to hopefully end up with, I ‘m hoping by the end of the week… We have had a lot of help. Louisville sent two trucks today. Gouverneur sent an excavator to clean up by Matoon Creek, and they gave me a couple trucks today. The gravel pit remained open all weekend… We had a lot of help, and got a lot of phone calls. John Hall (Hall’s Excavating in Gouverneur) did two repairs for us. He did one by Dave Spilman’s and just got done one on North Woods Road. He does a good job. We truck materials or whatever he needs for it… Battle Hill is safe now. We are finishing up Chub Lake tomorrow morning, and then we are headed to California Road up by Tyler’s Pond. That’s all torn up there. As I said earlier, we are trying to put the word of caution out: Do not drive fast on these roads. You are going to get in one of those holes. You are going to get hurt and damage your equipment.”
Supt. Durham reported that the Town of Fowler Highway Department accumulated 140 hours of overtime and 56 hours of comp time over the weekend alone. Town Supervisor Rick Newvine and the Town of Fowler Council commended Town of Fowler Highway Department Supt. Randy Durham and the Highway crew on their dedicated work in the aftermath of the storm. “Nice job,” Supervisor Newvine said. The sentiment was echoed by Town of Fowler Deputy Supervisor Karen Simmons, and Councilmen Scott Cleveland, Lynn Bishop, Leo Knight, Jr., and others in attendance. There also was a long discussion on the clean-up and repair efforts. The Town Beach is currently closed until further notice. To reach Town of Fowler Highway Supt. Randy Durham, call 315-222-6797. For more information, visit www.FowlerNY.com.
On Tuesday, August 13, confirmation was received through the National Weather Service that a tornado (category EF-U) touched down in Fowler near the Country Club Road on Sunday, August 11 at about 2:15 p.m.
Homeowners in St. Lawrence County can now apply for up to $50,000 to repair damage to their homes from last week’s flooding. The grants will fund or reimburse certain health- and safety-related repairs not covered by insurance or other disaster relief programs. The home must be the applicant’s primary residence and household income may not exceed 100% of the county’s area median income. The median household income in St. Lawrence County is $58,339. Links to the application have been posted on the Town of Fowler website (www.FowlerNY.com) and the Town of Gouverneur website (www.GouverneurNY.com). More information will be reported once made available to the Gouverneur Tribune Press.