ELIZABETHTOWN — A splintered and disconnected Essex County was virtually closed Monday morning, for all but road crews and emergency services personnel. Reports coming in showed extensive and unprecedented damage in Keene, Keene Valley, Moriah, AuSable Forks and Jay.
Essex County Emergency Services Director Don Jaquish said no one should travel; assessment of hundreds of damaged or destroyed roads and bridges got under way at first light.
Flooding from Hurricane Irene cut communication to the Emergency Dispatch Center, and first responders worked overnight primarily by phone.
Emergency shelters in Elizabethtown and Keene were set up after several low-lying areas near the Boquet River and John's Brook were evacuated.
The Keene Fire Station was destroyed and swept away late Sunday by the raging water in Dart Brook.
The Elizabethtown Fire Station started filling with water as the Boquet jumped Fisher Bridge on Route 9.
Both fire companies were able to relocate and save their fire trucks.
Road crews closed, then reopened the two main connecting bridges in Elizabethtown.
But Interstate 87 between exits 31 and 32 remained closed early Monday as engineers inspected a bridge that was threatened by water.
"It's unprecedented," Jaquish said of the damage and loss left in Irene's torrential wake.
Route 9N was closed in many locations, disrupting a primary route connecting many of the towns in Essex County.
The roadway to New Russia was blocked by many large trees and debris.
New York State Department of Transportation personnel were working early to reopen that leg of the route.
But a washout on the Lewis side of Route 9 may cause that stretch to remain closed for a longer period of time.
Route 73 in Keene Valley was closed at the intersection of Route 9.
Traffic cannot go either north or south.
The Ausable River rose overnight to 19 feet, Jaquish said, topping any and all previous known record.
Damage in Keene and Jay is extensive, with many reports of barns and houses being lifted and swept downriver.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available throughout the day.
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at kdedam@pressrepublican.com
