flood

We may be in the clear for any further threats of severe wind damage for Genesee County, but Batavia is still under watch for a flooding of Tonawanda Creek. This is a clip of the roiling creek that looked set to swell up and over its banks earlier this afternoon out back of the county court house.

From the National Weather Service:

The flood warning continues for the Tonawanda Creek at Batavia until Friday afternoon. At 12:00 p.m. Thursday, the stage was 9.5 feet and rising. Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast. Flood stage is 9.0 feet. Forecast: The river will continue to rise and crest near 9.8 feet this evening. Impact: At 10.0 feet, moderate flood, minor to moderate flooding along the entire reach from Batavia to Tonawanda, most focused in Alabama swamps, rapids and northern Clarence and Amherst, and also in the city of Batavia, west of Main Street.

On the wind advisory:

Southwest winds of 20 to 35 mph this afternoon could gust over 45 mph. The greatest chance for the higher gusts will be found over elevated terrain. These winds will become more westerly during the course of this afternoon before diminishing late in the day.

While the threat of widespread wind damage has diminished, shallow rooted trees, namely pines, will still be vulnerable in this event as their shallow root system has become less stable with the thawing of the previously frozen ground. Scattered power outages will still be possible from downed tree limbs and power lines.

A flood watch has been issued for Genesee and Wyoming counties through Thursday evening. Ice jam flooding could break out on Tonawanda Creek.

From the National Weather Service out of Buffalo:

Ice jams were on Tonawanda Creek Tuesday near Varysburg and south of Attica. Warm temperatures and rainfall today will increase the flow on the creek and may cause the jams to move downstream. The higher water and ice will combine for a threat of flooding along the creek. With ice jams, flooding can happen at any time if the ice breaks loose and jams again. The flood threat of higher water will continue through Thursday.

A flash flood watch means the threat of flash flooding exists along rivers and creeks. If you are in the watch area, you should monitor weather conditions closely. Be ready to move to higher ground if flooding is observed or a warning is issued.

Here are some photos that were taken on Creek Road about 7:30a.m. Sunday morning before the Tonawanda had crested.

It started actually Saturday as temperatures were rising in the upper 30's climbing to low 50's overnight.  We had received about 2+ feet of snow just in the last week and now it was melting very rapidly.  Today's high was in the upper 50's and the tonawanda creek was above flood stage of 9 feet and peaked around 11.4 feet according to the weather channel this morning.  It's now at a little over 12 feet and hopefully cresting soon.  Also during this time we had very high winds which were approx 35-45mph most of the day.  This morning there were gusts passing through around 50+ mph for about an hour.  As the day went on the city crews were on scene along with tree and power companies to help battle the flooding and tree damage due to high winds.  On every street I saw tree limbs, debris and even uprooting in some areas that had left much damage through the city.

Here are some pictures to share of areas around the city:

A tree fell hitting a house on east avenue and pulled utility wires.

Tree was uprooted on Lincoln Ave. damaging houses and a red SUV due to the 50+ mph winds.

Many side streets had flooding on the south side.  Ganson Ave, Elmwood and pictured here is Jackson Avenue.

Kibbie park or should I say Kibbie lake?  The winds were very high in the afternoon during this time.

The tonawanda creek filled up rapidly due to the fast melting of snow.  Here is a picture showing the River Street bridge with a vehicle coming across.

Look familiar?  Corner of Walnut and Law streets had major flooding.  A trucker was able to pass through heading south on Rt 98.

Let's hope the worst is over and we can recover a bit before heading into the New Year.

The National Weather Service has cancelled the flood warning for Batavia:

The flood warning is cancelled for the Tonawanda Creek at Batavia. At 8am Monday the stage was 8.6 feet and falling. Flood stage is 9.0 feet. Forecast: The river fell below flood stage later this morning and will continue to fall to around 5.7 feet by Tuesday morning. Impact: At 10.0 feet, moderate flood. Minor to moderate flooding along the entire reach from Batavia to Tonawanda. Most focused in Alabama swamps, rapids, and northern Clarence and Amherst, and also in city of Batavia west of Main Street.

 I went around town for a while seeing what damage has been done. Some streets were closed down, trees obviously knocked over and very high flood waters ... some people don't even have back yards right now. There also a lot of homes in parts of town without power.

 I know a lot of people are spending today dealing with flooded basements. After you get the water pumped out, please feel free to share photos and stories of the events from today.

FYI.....Tonawanda Creek south of Batavia BEGAN spilling its banks last evening (Sat. Dec. 27) and continues to rise. It  doesn't appear to be anywhere near cresting and this event looks to be potentially nasty. Pumps are running in the basement of our Creek Road home as I write this. Looks like our dogs will be spending the day indoors.

Probably a good a idea to avoid the low-lying areas immediately to the south, particularly  Dorman, Peaviner, Cookson and Old Creek Roads.    

We received the following flood warning, issued by the National Weather Service out of Buffalo:

Flood warning for the Ellicott Creek below Williamsville. From this afternoon to Sunday morning. At 8:00am Saturday the stage was 6.3 feet and rising. Minor flooding is forecast. Flood stage is 8 feet. Forecast: the river is expected to rise above flood stage late this afternoon and crest near 9.1 feet this evening. Impact at 10 feet: Moderate flood. Extensive flooding in Ellicott Creek Park and minor flooding in surrounding neighborhoods in Tonawanda.

For more information on the progression of potential flooding in your area, keep up with the updates at the Weather Channel online.