Raging waters in Livingston Manor, where a 15-year-old girl was trapped as her house was swept away

Sullivan County, Western Orange County and portions of Ulster County were the hardest hit in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions Wednesday as the rain swollen Delaware and Neversink rivers, and the Willowemac, Cattail, Esopus and other creeks washed away roads and homes. Floodwaters rose several feet, almost to the roofs of automobiles.

People in Delaware and Sullivan counties had to be plucked off their rooftops by helicopters and emergency services personnel in boats. Mudslides took down some houses and campgrounds were whipped out.

Sullivan County legislator Elwood Wood and Town of Rockland Supervisor Pat Pomeroy toured the flooded areas of Roscoe and Livingston Manor by rowboat Wednesday morning and saw vehicles under water and buildings partially submerged.

If you thought the floods of April 2005 in Livingston Manor were bad, they were “child’s play” compared to this one, said local resident Sandra Will.

In Ulster County, Hurley, Woodstock and the Town of Ulster were hard hit, but mostly with property damage and some road damage. Senator John Bonacic said flooding of the Esopus Creek can be blamed on the City of New York.

“That’s directly related to the New York City reservoirs and their dumping of water from the portal, from the Schoharie, into the Esopus,” he said.

Sullivan County officials were worried that the Lake Jeffersonville Dam might give way from all the rains so they evacuated residents of the Village of Jeffersonville in the area immediately below Lake Jeffersonville, due to a weakened dam structure at the Lake Jeffersonville Dam.

Belcher, at the East Main Street bridge over the Neversink River

All evacuees are being taken to the Sullivan West campus at Jeffersonville for sheltering.

The Delaware, at Barryville, which has a normal 17 foot blood level, was expected to crest at 35 feet.

The Delaware was also expected to flood low lying areas of the City of Port Jervis. As a result, a citywide state of emergency was declared, said City Councilman George Belcher. However, by after 9 p.m., Orange County officials said the river crested at 21 feet – 18 feet is the flood stage – and began to recede.

The Delaware is expected to be back below flood stage by early afternoon.