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OK, granted the news and the images from the recent flooding in upstate NY are pretty scary looking, but you really don't have much to worry about. Unless this is the shape of things to come due to global warming (in which case it will be pretty difficult to predict where, if anywhere, will be 'safe'), it was a 'hundred year' flood episode and is pretty unlikely to occur again in our lifetimes. And in spite of all the horrific images and very substantial damage, I believe there were only 3 or 4 casualties from the recent flooding, two of which were technically traffic fatalities (though without the flooding, the accidents wouldn't have happened). I think the geological survey maps have dams marked on them, and as far as I know there aren't many massive dams in upstate NY like the great dams out west.
There are a few dams up this way, and you do need to know where you are located in relation to the water and what the elevation is. But nothing like the hoover dam.
I live 2 miles from the Delaware river, in Pa about 75 miles east of Jamie.
Before we bought our house we drove around the area and looked for any small brooks or creeks and what seperated us from it. We also looked on the map to see where the Delaware is and decided that we have a very, very low chance of seeing a flood affecting our house. We were right, our house stayed dry as can be durning 9 inches of rain and the Delaware reaching major flood stage.
In general, if you can find a good realtor who is trustworthy, and/or a local willing to help you learn the area, you should do quite well finding a suitable house. The maps are a good idea to weed out houses during your search. Get out and drive around the area too.
There are a few dams up this way, and you do need to know where you are located in relation to the water and what the elevation is. But nothing like the hoover dam.
I live 2 miles from the Delaware river, in Pa about 75 miles east of Jamie.
Before we bought our house we drove around the area and looked for any small brooks or creeks and what seperated us from it. We also looked on the map to see where the Delaware is and decided that we have a very, very low chance of seeing a flood affecting our house. We were right, our house stayed dry as can be durning 9 inches of rain and the Delaware reaching major flood stage.
In general, if you can find a good realtor who is trustworthy, and/or a local willing to help you learn the area, you should do quite well finding a suitable house. The maps are a good idea to weed out houses during your search. Get out and drive around the area too.
I think you will be very happy with "upstate" NY.
Thanks. That was exactly the type of advice I was looking for. I guess the footwork is very necessary... I mean driving around and being your own investigator etc... So glad that you fared well through the rain. Thank you again.
I live in Endicott, too (and hello to Jamie!), and I can say that we really had no problems here, just some drama. The flooding was all in the lowest lying areas, only one stretch of which really had any residential development (and as far as I'm aware there, it basically just closed the streets.)
After what I saw, I'd be a little skeptical of buying on the south side of Main Street in the "Union District", (which is immediately next to the levee), but otherwise, this is a very safe place to be. All the "President streets" (Jefferson, McKinley, Garfield, Washington, etc) north of Main are on a higher elevation and so high that I think it's implausible for them to ever flood, barring some kind of earth-shattering calamity.
Frankly, we had fun with those two days, most people couldn't get to work but had no imminent danger so just visited with friends, dined out, hung out on the levee with their families. Things weren't so great for Vestal because the main cross-town arteries, the Vestal Parkway, Old Vestal Road, the Vestal Bridge, etc (and what's scary is that once you've been here a while, someone will say 'it's on Vestal' and you'll telepathically know which one they mean) were shut down, but the back roads up in the hills were still available.
The key thing to understand is that when the Southern Tier was built up, the commercial areas grew up on the flat valley carved out by the rivers, because it's easy to build there. However, the newer residential subdivisions (which I'm guessing is the kind of neighborhood you're looking for) that lie outside of the town cores are most often way up in the hills, like Tioga Terrace, the Hills of Vestal, etc. Glendale Drive is definitely an exception to this rule, but I'm not entirely sure how wet it got back there.
When people say "in the hills", here, they don't mean "way out in the boonies", because the river and the town core is rarely more than about five or six blocks from some impressive topography. If it's feasible to do so, I'd definitely recommend touring neighborhoods in person before making any choices, you will be able to tell just by looking what the elevation is like relative to other parts of town.
Hi flyscotsman, Thanks so much for the details. That will definitely help us find our way to the ultimate sefe zone. (smile) I guess this thread is unnecessary at this point, cuz I'm just not afraid anymore! I think you all have cleared it up for me. Grazie! Oh and so glad you all were spared!
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