SULLIVAN COUNTY – Washed out roads, rising water levels and flooding were the scene on Wednesday morning, as heavy rain from Tuesday brought worsening conditions throughout the county.

The Delaware River was high with rushing brown water. The National Park Service said on Wednesday the river height was 6.97 feet high and was flowing at 10,400 cubic feet per second, roughly around 3.5 miles per hour or more.

The torrential rains most directly impacted northwestern Sullivan County, and the towns of Fremont, Callicoon and Rockland, plus the Village of Liberty, declared states of emergency while cleanup is ongoing. Roscoe, Livingston Manor and Liberty had downtown flooding, with some roads being temporarily closed as a result.

In Livingston Manor heavy rain sent the Willowemoc Creek surging overnight, flooding low-lying streets, filling crawl spaces and leaving firefighters, business owners and homeowners dealing with water and mud Wednesday morning.

According to the National Weather Service, three to six inches of rain fell across northern Sullivan County between Tuesday and early Wednesday, with locally higher amounts. By morning, the Willowemoc had risen to approximately 10 feet, reaching the park behind the farmers market lot on Main Street.

Several inches of brown, murky floodwater covered the intersection of Pearl and Meadow streets, one of the lowest areas in the hamlet. Main Street remained passable, but Pearl Street was closed with traffic cones at the intersection.

At Old Souls on Main Street, manager Mike Kaplan said the business escaped major damage despite water entering the building.

“We lucked out pretty good,” Kaplan said. “Our crawl space is full of water at the moment, but other than that, not too bad.”

Water came through the doorway but stopped below the entrance step, sparing the store’s merchandise. The store was not using the crawl space for storage.

Employees at other nearby businesses reported limited water intrusion, including water in a basement, but said their main retail areas had largely avoided serious damage.

A lifelong Livingston Manor resident who declined to give his name said he spent the night managing water in his basement. He has lived in the same home for approximately 30 years.

The resident said flooding worsens when the Willowemoc rises high enough to slow the Little Beaver Kill and prevent it from draining efficiently.

“Once that thing gets high, there’s no feeding,” he said. “It shuts it all down.”

He said residents and government agencies have discussed flood-control measures over the years, including work near the confluence of the waterways and the creation of additional floodplain capacity upstream. He questioned whether enough had been done to reduce the hamlet’s flood risk.

In April of this year, Livingston Manor was awarded $4.7 million from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to study the floodplain.

Members of the Livingston Manor Fire Department used hoses Wednesday morning to wash mud from sidewalks and continued assisting property owners with pump-outs.

“We try to do the sidewalks any time it floods,” firefighter C.J. Weickum said.

Weickum said the department had been responding to requests for pump-outs since Tuesday.

“We’ve been doing them on and off,” he said.

Property owners generally contact the department when they need help, Weickum said, and firefighters send a pump when one is available.

By late Wednesday morning, floodwater still covered Pearl Street and other low-lying areas of the hamlet. Mud remained on sidewalks as firefighters, residents and business owners continued dealing with the effects of the storm.