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Herkimer County Experiences Severe Flooding from Steady Rain

Herkimer County

Heavy rains in Central New York tore through Herkimer County last night in what is being called the worst flooding of the decade. 

County Sherriff Chris Farber says that this time,the damage is concentrated in more populated areas.

"A lot of the homes, in Herkimer, Mohawk - a lot of water up to the first floor.
There's some houses that were washed off their foundation in some of our rural areas.
Right now we have assessment teams going out into the field assessing the damage and
state police are here with a helicopter to do a fly-over assessment."

Streets have turned into rivers and many houses have water up to the first floor. Farber says one woman was swept away along with her children when floodwaters washed her home off its foundation. Fortunately, the family was brought to safety by one of the many rescue teams in the area. Currently, many of the roads are still
closed and Herkimer County is under a state of emergency.

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.