Saturday, June 29, 2013

APAL'S PhotoLink Saturday

Lackawanna County was hit by heavy rain and flash flooding Thursday night and Friday morning.

After things had calmed down, and after I was sure my sightseeing wouldn't get in anyone's way, I set out with my camera in search of adventure.

With apologies to Newswatch 16's Mike Stevens, I present my own version of PhotoLink Library, with all the photos coming from my own camera.

Let me back up a bit.  I got up about midnight Friday morning and as I always do, the police radio and computer were fired up.  Twitter was exploding.  The police radio channels were filled with activity.  The Lackawanna River was coming up fast.  Flood gates were closing.  Basements were flooding.  Homes were evacuated.

I decided to leave for the gym a little early, around 2:15 AM.  I live on the east side of the Lackawanna.  The gym is on the west.  The Olyphant bridge was closed, so I had to get on Interstate 81, head north to the Main Avenue exit, and take the road through Dickson City, to the gym.  Considering what some people were experiencing, it was nothing to complain about.

As I passed Rite Aid and "the anchor" in Blakely, I looked off to my right.  The Lackawanna River is usually low and out of the line of sight.  On this morning, I could see the street lights reflecting off the top of the water.  That's when I knew it was really, really bad.

Now, the photos.  Everything you will see today and tomorrow was shot roughly between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM Friday.

Above is the view of the Lackwanna River from the bottom of Sanderson Street in Throop.  The river is usually trickling between the trees.  Not on this day-- high and fast, but as you can see, well below the bank on the Dickson City side.
This photo was taken from Bellman Street in Throop, looking upstream.  The photo doesn't do justice to the water's brown color.
This photo puts it into perspective.  This is the Boulevard Avenue bridge.  Throop is on the left.  Dickson City is on the right.  As you can see from the water mark under the bridge, the water is down a few feet from its crest.
Different bridge and perspective-- This is the bridge that spans the Lackawanna between Olyphant and Blakely.  I'm on the Blakely side.  As you can see from the gauge on the bridge support, the river is at seven feet, down a couple from the crest.  The grey flood gate is closed.
And while I was standing on the bridge, why not take a picture?  This is the view upstream, with Olyphant on the right and Blakely on the left.

More flood photos tomorrow.