Disaster and my escape to California

Owego NY (My mom's hometown) on Thursday evening.  Click to enlarge.  I-86 used to run on the other side of the river below the bridge but it is gone now.

 

I made it back to California... barely.  With many roads and bridges closed or damaged from Tropical Storm Lee's flooding and I-86 (Rt 17) completely underwater in many areas, I had to go a little out of my way to get to Elmira from Endicott for my noon flight on Friday.  So I left the house at 6 AM.  Took Robinson Hill Rd to Oakdale Rd to Harry L Drive (the only dry part).  Got on 17 East at the mall (west was closed) and managed to get to 81 N towards Syracuse.  Got off at Whitney Point and got on state Rt 79 to Ithaca(!) which eventually took me to state Rt 13 South.  That ultimately took me down to Horseheads which was west of the flooding.  From there I was able to get back on 86 and it was a short hop to the airport.  Needless to say that was a lot of backroads and country driving.  Judging from some of the photos of the flooding I am not sure that I-86 still exists everywhere.  The river might have reclaimed parts of the highway.

As of this writing I have not heard a full report of the flooding at Mom's place out in Tioga Ctr.  Best guess based on neighbor's reports yesterday was that the basement was severely flooded  (6-8 feet) but it sounds like the first floor escaped water damage.  There was no power or functional plumbing.  The area was hit very hard by a flash flood early on Thursday morning   It could be a long time before all of the damage to the house is repaired.  Power will likely be out for days if not weeks.  Mom and my step-father were still at Dad's where we evacuated to on Wednesday last I heard and hope they remain there until the house is habitable.  As bad as that is a lot of people got hit much worse.  Our cousin Dean who has been helping out a lot with my stepfather Hal was completely flooded out.  I am guessing his home which was near a major tributary of the Susquehanna River is a total loss, if it even still exists.  

On a side note my cell phone was accidentally left in my friend's truck last night after he picked me up at the airport.  He is out of town until sometime tomorrow. (sigh).  So I am out of touch by phone for the next 24 hrs.