WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports - Cohoes begins flood clean-up after wild night
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The clean-up from Wednesday night's flash flooding continued through Thursday, especially in Cohoes. The city was among the hardest hit, getting upwards of three inches of rain an hour.
In some parts of the City, people had to wade through high water and officials say a number of basements flooded out.
A flooded mess was not the way the first week of the season was supposed to end at Lansing Pool in Cohoes. Floods turned the water a murky blue-green and left a layer of mulch on the surface.
"You can see the water line right here, how high it was. Those railings were under the water, and they just opened the pool last week. I was like, "Oh my God," they're going to have to redo the whole thing," said Scott Gilligan.
The City hopes to reopen the pool by next Friday at the earliest.
Elsewhere, road damage occurred at numerous spots, such as Main and Saratoga Streets.
Tom Gilson lives on the corner. He lost a flip-flop directing traffic over peeling pavement.
"I thought (the road) was going to wash out. I was just trying to prevent cars from driving over it," Gilson said.
Another example of the mess left behind in Cohoes is mud. Mud was everywhere in the parking lot of the Hot Dog Charlie's on Saratoga Street, and not too far from that were chunks of a rock aggregate, scattered all over the parking lot and a sidewalk. They come from a plant just up the road, the debris carried by the powerful flood waters yesterday. The clean-up was non-stop overnight.
"All the tiles were covered," said Hot Dog Charlie's owner Charlie Fentekes, "It came in through the front door and right out the back."
The water eventually reached a nearby culvert, blocking drainage, damaging yards and flooding homes in the process.
"It ruined my furnace. It ruined my hot water tank," resident John Sokol said, "I have to get all new stuff. I'm 77, I don't need this."
Until the rain stops, neither will the clean-up.
