SULLIVAN— After wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast, a weakened Tropical Depression Ida brought steady rains to the region earlier this week.

According to Sullivan County Communications Director Dan Hust, the county experienced 2-5 inches of rain from Ida but escaped the kind of flooding damage seen downstate.

“As the sun rises, impacts seem limited to limbs down, gravel wash across roads and around 150 power outages, all in the Orange and Rockland Utilities service area,” Hust said yesterday morning. “CR 102 Cold Spring Road near Monticello was the only County road closed due to fallen branches. We lucked out, frankly.”
Other parts of the state were not so fortunate.

Despite escaping the worst of it, Sullivan County was included in Governor Kathy Hochul’s state of emergency declaration issued early Thursday morning. Other counties included Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester in response to major flooding due to Tropical Depression Ida.

“Torrential rainfall has resulted in flash flooding, power outages, travel disruptions and damage in impacted areas posing a threat to public health and safety,” Hochul said of the worst impacted areas. “I am directing State agencies, including the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the Department of Transportation, Thruway Authority, and others to take appropriate and immediate action to help respond and recover from this disaster.”

As of Thursday morning, at least eight people were reported to have died due to flooding in New York City and New Jersey.