Nockamixon Emergency Management

As we start our first full day post-Irene, we wanted to update you on current conditions in Nockamixon Township:

Flooding and Wind Effects
Most streams and tributaries in our township experienced some measure of flooding from the extreme rain event brought by Hurricane Irene. For the record, Irene approached our area as and remained a Category 1 hurricane throughout her tenure in the Delaware Valley. She dropped to tropical storm status as she approached New York City. Regardless, she brought extreme rainfall to all on her front end, and nasty winds on her back end.

The latter caused a great deal of tree fall and debris being scattered over lawns and roadways. Even very large, apparently sturdy trees were no match for Irene's winds, which pushed hard until some of them could no longer hold in the spongey soil already saturated by several weeks of intermittent but heavy rains. In turn, these trees fell across yards and roadways, falling on houses and taking out power lines in many locations of our township. You can monitor power outages online at FirstEnergyCorp's website.

The former contributed to very rapid rise in the Delaware River, which is in full flood at this point. Though the river is still forecast to crest around 7:00 this evening at 25.9 feet (just below Moderate Flood Stage of 26 feet), the AHPS Hydrograph at Riegelsville indicates that it has, since about 5:00 this morning, begun leveling off at 24.56 feet. We will continue to monitor the river level.

Road and Bridge Closures
Though the Milford/UBE bridge was closed earlier this morning after a motorist ignored a barricade and drove into a flooded area, requiring rescue, the bridge has since been reopened. State Police and emergency responders ask that drivers please respect any closures and refrain from driving around barricades. These are placed for their own safety and are ignored at the drivers' peril.

Route 32 (River Road) is closed south of its intersection with Rt. 611 in Kintnersville to Erwinna, due to overwash in several places by the river's high water. The exception is a small stretch open between Singley Lane and Firehouse Lane, which is open to allow motorists to cross the Milford-UBE bridge. Bridgeton EMA cautions that drivers coming down off of Bridgeton Hill Road may be diverted onto Singley Lane for this purpose.

The above photo of the bridge was taken by Nockamixon EMA Coordinator Tom Macfarlan at 8:30 this morning.

In Memoriam
Despite the minor property damages and inconvenience brought to us by Irene, we are mindful that it could have been so much worse, especially as we mark the sixth anniversary today of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast. We reflect on the horrifying level of death and destruction wrought by that storm, and are grateful that Irene wasn't more destructive here than she was.

EMA Status
The Nockamixon EMA remains on alert for further post-storm developments, but at this time has no plans to re-activate our full team or to re-open our emergency operations center. We thank all the citizens of our township who planned well for this event, helped each other out during and after the storm, and who were responsible and conscientious in reporting downed trees and wires, flooding and other effects to the proper authorities. We're proud of how our township and its surrounding communities continue to work together for the greater good.

Nockamixon Emergency Management
Public Outreach & Media Notifications
PO Box 100 • Ferndale, PA 18921 • (610) 847-2456