Sandy Damage Thread

[peakbagger]

The worst of Sandy appears to have gone through up in Gorham NH and it appears as though we were on the fringe. I dont see any initial signs that the storm and winds were any worse than typical noreaster but I expect there will be some damage out in the woods. There are stil some consistent gusts and the ground is saturated. There were flash flood warnings on the Peabody River that drains RT 16 from Pinkham Notch north with one neighborhood evacuated. I would expect that both the Rocky Branch, Dry River and Great Gulf drainages will have some damage and the unrepaired Irene damage in the woods is probably now worse.

I hope everyone has rode out the storm safely.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I heard on NHPR this morning that stretches of residents along the Peabody in Gorham were evacuated.

Tim

 

[peakbagger]

You are correct. Long ago the State relocated a section of Rt 16 as it was prone to flooding from the Peabody River during flash floods. The old road bed remained and over the years the land owner sold river front lots for camps. During the real estate boom of the early 1980s, many permanent houses were built in this area. Gorham did not have zoning at the time and apparently this area was not flood mapped so houses were built right on the river bank. Even when the town did get the area mapped, several houses were built in way that allowed them to get flood insurance. Since then every bad storm, the area gets cut off. Last year Irene changed the rivers course to direct a majority of the flow at the river bank in front of the houses and significant shoreline was removed. There is one house in particular whose foundation is about 8 feet from a banking. Attempts have been made to rip rap the area, but its just a matter of time before house start going in. To make it more interesting there is a large unstable bank just upstream of the RT 16 bridge adjacent to the Stony Brook Hiking trail, this bears the brunt of the flow from the river and when that lets loose and blocks the channel, the river will find a new course directly through the neighbohood.

There are also areas downstream of the bridge and past the town pool that also can have issues but nowhere near like above the bridge.

 

[MichaelJ]

It's neat to look at the hydrographs and see how much warmer the rivers got when all this rainwater flooded into them. 7000cfs in the Wild, no way anyone's getting out there for a couple days!

 

[Tom Rankin]

The worst of Sandy appears to have gone through up in Gorham NH and it appears as though we were on the fringe. I dont see any initial signs that the storm and winds were any worse than typical noreaster but I expect there will be some damage out in the woods. There are stil some consistent gusts and the ground is saturated. There were flash flood warnings on the Peabody River that drains RT 16 from Pinkham Notch north with one neighborhood evacuated. I would expect that both the Rocky Branch, Dry River and Great Gulf drainages will have some damage and the unrepaired Irene damage in the woods is probably now worse.

I hope everyone has rode out the storm safely.

I just hope you do not get Sandy II when it curves around!

 

[psmart]

Unfortunately, the Carroll County forecast is calling for about 2 inches of rain in the next 36 hours - somewhat more than we got in the first round. And with the ground already saturated, the worst of the flooding is probably still to come. Some areas have been upgraded from a flood watch to a flood warning.

 

[sardog1]

7000cfs in the Wild, no way anyone's getting out there for a couple days!

Whadda wimp.
(Do you happen to recall the flow when you had all the fun?)

 

[MichaelJ]

Whadda wimp.
(Do you happen to recall the flow when you had all the fun?)

Yes. When I went in to the former Spruce Brook Shelter it was 150cfs and I lay on a rock in the middle of the river (where I walked with dry feet) filtering. The next day it was 5,000cfs and the ground was rumbling. Spruce Brook and Cypress Brook were also impassable. The brook crossing right at the Wild River Campground parking lot was hip-deep.

 

[Mac]

Here's part of my commute home

http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/423196/waning-sandy-brings-rain-flooding-power-outages-to-n-s/

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

 

[Breeze]

http://www.berlindailysun.com/index...thed-by-sandy&catid=103:local-news&Itemid=442

The Peabody River is going to give the landowners/home-owners on her banks grAy hair for a long time to come. As is the Saco River, downstream in the opposite flowage, and who knows how many more waterways.

The contractor who won the bid for remediation and repairs to that stretch of the Peabody POST IRENE barely wrapped up their work late last week.

I'm thinking I would not have wanted to be that contractor, having the work be tested so soon and so drastically.


So far, its all good. Maybe some folks were evac'ed prematurely this time , but during Irene, residents of the Bangor St/ Peabody River area had to self-evac, and did so successfully. During Sandy, apparently there were more boots on the ground and more eyes-on oversight in areas that were considered crucial.


Learning from a bad result? Should be the natural order of living.

Breeze

 

[peakbagger]

Some folks PMed me if I could comment about what sort of conditions they might encounter this weekend in the Northern Presis. I havent been out in the woods this week so this is speculation.

The ground will most likely be saturated, plan on plenty of mud. I have a pool that forms in the spring in my front yard that rarely is present any other time of the year. Its here athough coming down slowly.

I expect streams will still be running at a good clip. Probably not a good weekend to do Isolation via Rocky Branch, Downes Brook or Sabathday Brook trails.

I dont expect significant blowdowns to be an issue, the winds were below what is normal for noreasters.

The temps are predicted to drop all weekend and its supposed to get windy again. This a good combination for hypothermia.

There is a chance of snow at higher elevatios tonight and Saturday night.

All in all a typical wet early November, by the way remember its probably hunting season where ever you go. If you want to avoid it Maine has no hunting on Sundays

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I did Moriah via Stony Brook today, and there was virtually no storm damage from Sandy - a couple of small blowdowns, one of which we cleared with a small hand saw. It was very wet, however, particularly along the ridge. About the only suggestions I'd make for this weekend is 1) wear good, waterproof boots, 2) bring warm clothing, as the temps are dropping a bit each day by a few degrees, 3) bring some type of light traction, like microspikes. We didn't need them today, but did encounter some light some along the ridge on the ridge.