- What’s left of Prattsville, New York.
Hurricane Irene’s impact on the Eastern Seaboard was bad, but not as bad as expected for most people. New York City was mostly spared the wrath, even if the hurricane did bring out the crazies. However, not everyone was so lucky. For example, there’s the small town of Prattville, New York. It’s full of vacation homes and mountain fun; also, it’s gone. The majority of the town of Prattsville, New York, was destroyed when Irene swept through, dumping record levels of rain on the tiny town in the Catskill Mountains.
The nearby Schoharie Creek rose a staggering 15 feet and helped to contribute to the destruction of the town. A volume of water greater than the whole of Niagra Falls ripped through the town, forcing emergency officials to rescue 87 people from the town on Sunday alone, after 70 mile-per-hour winds forced airplanes to the ground; 21 of these were pulled from a house surrounded by floodwaters. The only shelter for the town was the Huntersfield Christian Training Center, which had stockpiled water enough to trade with residents for food. There are 40 people sheltered inside the building, which has a generator.
“We’re in safe ground so that’s why we’re a refuge for those,” said George Williams, youth minister at Huntersfield. “We have a number of people that have gone back to their homes, but we understand that there is a lot of, at your own risk, where people are entering their homes and they believe that they’re sound … but some homes have shifted … and there’s just a lot of cleanup to do. There are some here that have nothing to go back to, so they don’t know how long it’s going to be.”
Tags: Prattsville, New York, Prattsville washed away by Hurricane Irene, entire town washed away by Hurricane Irene, disasters, natural disasters, flooding, entire town destroyed by floodwater, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Huntersfield Christian Training Center, Schoharie Creek, George Williams, town destroyed by hurricane
