New floods overwhelm saturated Northeast

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. ?? Nearly 100,000 people were ordered to flee the rising Susquehanna River on Thursday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped more rain across the Northeast, socking areas still recovering from Hurricane Irene and closing major highways at the morning rush.

At Binghamton, N.Y., the wide river broke a flood record and flowed over retaining walls downtown. About 80 miles downstream in Wilkes-Barre, the river was projected to crest later Thursday at 41 feet ? the same height as the levee system, officials said.

Residents were ordered to leave by 4 p.m.

In Harrisburg, crews put sandbags around the governor's mansion as the river spilled over its banks. In Binghamton, emergency responders scrambled to evacuate holdouts who didn't heed warnings to leave neighborhoods. Flooding closed Interstate 88 and flooded parts of the city of Oneonta, N.Y., which is home to a state university.

Tom Connelly was camping by the river Wednesday night when the water began rising.

"Within a half hour ? less than a half hour ? it really overflowed its banks and I really almost didn't have enough time to get out of there," Connelly said. "By the time I left the tent, the water was within 2 feet. ... I'm sure the tent is long gone."

More updates and images from the flooding in the Northeast from breakingnews.com

Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said residents should prepare for an evacuation of 72 hours and advised them to take clothing, food and prescription medicine. He also asked city businesses to close at midday.

"There is no need to panic," Leighton said. "This is a precautionary evacuation and the safety of our residents is our biggest concern."

Story: Tropical Storm Nate spins off Mexico's coast

Emergency responders were scrambling to evacuate holdouts who didn't heed earlier warnings to leave city neighborhoods threatened by record flooding. Evacuation orders began being issued Wednesday to some 20,000 people in the city and neighboring communities along the Susquehanna.

Broome County emergency services manager Brett Chellis told The Associated Press that water started coming over the walls about 10 a.m., less than 12 hours after officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for sections of the city near where the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers converge.

"It's getting worse by the minute," Chellis said.

The National Weather Service said the river level is over 25 feet, above the 25-foot record set in 2006 and more than 11 feet above flood stage. It's expected to rise another foot or so.

Wet weather followed by Hurricane Irene and its remnants have saturated the soil across the Northeast, leaving water no place to go but into already swollen creeks and rivers. Many areas flooding this week were spared a direct hit by Irene, but authorities took no chances in the same places inundated by historic flooding after Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. 9/11 images: Remains of the day
   2. Updated 114 minutes ago 9/8/2011 4:56:33 PM +00:00 9/11 a decade later: Lives forever changed
   3. Twins born days after 9/11 reflect on dad's loss
   4. Strategies have shifted, but soldier committed to Afghanistan
   5. Analysis: Perry takes the heat but keeps on smiling
   6. Megabanks growing even more dominant
   7. When money ran short, dad started Dumpster diving

At least nine deaths have been blamed on Lee and its aftermath.

The high waters were being blamed for the partial collapse of the Slabtown Bridge in Montoursville, Pa. No one was on the bridge at the time, authorities said.

In New Jersey, where many residents were still cleaning up after Irene, the remnants of Lee were expected to drop anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of rain. There was some flooding along rivers including the Passaic, which breached its banks during Irene and caused serious damage. Heavier flooding is expected Thursday.

1. Get updates

   1. Breaking news

      Get the latest updates on this story and others on the Web, Facebook and Twitter.

2. Help us report

   1. First Person

      What did you see? Send us photos, video or eyewitness reports.

Roads and highways closed around the region. In Philadelphia, flooding and a rock slide closed the eastbound lanes of the Schuylkill Expressway, a major artery into the city, and it could take hours for the road to reopen.

Flash flooding shut down roads and closed schools in many parts of Pennsylvania. A bridge spanning the Delaware River between New Hope, Pa., and Lambertville, N.J., closed Thursday morning as flood waters carried debris downriver.

In New York, the Thruway Authority expected Thursday to close a 105-mile stretch of Interstate 90 where it runs along the Mohawk River, which had overflowed its banks in some areas. It's the state's most heavily traveled east-west highway.

In central New York, thousands of people were expected to evacuate the flood-battered Binghamton area Thursday, and some schools were closed in the surrounding area.

A flood watch was in effect through Thursday afternoon in soggy Vermont but officials on Thursday said that rain has caused only minor problems in the state. Parts of the state are still recovering from flooding from the remnants of Irene, which was a tropical storm by the time it swept over the area.

PennDOT spokesman Rick Mason told The Associated Press a portion of a bridge over the Loyalsock Creek in Lycoming County collapsed after flood waters undermined an abutment.

In Maryland, the mayor of Port Deposit has ordered a mandatory evacuation as flood gates were opening on the nearby dam.

Mayor Wayne Tome says the order Thursday applies to Main Street, where most of the approximately 1,000 residents live. They have been ordered to evacuate by 8 p.m.

A shelter has been established at a nearby high school.

Port Deposit is about 7 miles below the Conowingo Dam. Water levels there are forecast to reach near-historic levels..

In New York, Prattsville was cut off on Wednesday afternoon, its main roads covered with water as public works crews tried to dredge the creeks to alleviate the flooding. Trash bins stood in the mud-caked streets to collect debris left by Irene and the wreckage of houses destroyed by the earlier storm still dotted the area.

1. Partner?links

   2. Top stories
   3. Severe alerts
   4. Pollen hot spots
   5. Airport delays
   6. Rush hour traffic

Heavy rain fell, and residents were ready to evacuate as the Schoharie Creek escaped its banks and smaller streams showed significant flooding. In nearby Middleburgh, dozens of residents were evacuated from temporary shelters set up in schools, many for the third time since Irene hit.

Lee formed just off the Louisiana coast late last week and gained strength as it lingered in the Gulf for a couple of days. It dumped more than a foot of rain in New Orleans and trudged across Mississippi and Alabama.

Tornadoes spawned by Lee damaged hundreds of homes, and flooding knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people. Trees were uprooted and roads were flooded. Winds fanned wildfires in Louisiana and Texas, and the storm even kicked up tar balls on the Gulf Coast. At least six people have died in the South and Northeast.

The rainy remnants of Agnes devastated the Susquehanna River basin in 1972 after moving up the coast. At the time it was one of the most damaging hurricanes ever recorded despite being a relatively weak storm.

Meanwhile, in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Katia brought rough surf to the East Coast but was not expected to make landfall in the U.S. Tropical Storm Maria also formed Wednesday far out in the Atlantic, but it was too soon to tell if and where it might make landfall.

The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44436279/ns/weather/

queen hannah montana games hannah montana games wix michael fassbender michael fassbender jumpstart