Intense floods in Orange County, NY have sent rocks large enough to kill a person tumbling down mountains toward homes — as one woman drowned after dislodged boulders wrecked her house and floodwaters swept her away.
Heavy rain flooded the streets “almost immediately” in areas including Fort Montgomery on Sunday, resident William Murphy, 56, told The Post.
The deluge washed away entire roads and sent rocks from the mountains at West Point Military Academy falling down toward Murphy’s home.
“The water just washed right through. It was tremendous. It brought down boulders, rocks. It washed out dirt and trees, all onto the roads,” Murphy said.
“The whole mountain washed down. They’re out here now with tractors and trucks bulldozing the debris, the dirt, the mud and all the rocks — fairly large rocks, huge — they could definitely kill you,” he added.
A 35-year-old woman drowned as she tried to flee her flooding home with her dog Sunday night, officials confirmed. According to Murphy, the woman lived in his neighborhood.
“Her house was completely surrounded by water. The family tried to escape,” Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said Sunday. “She was trying to get through [the floodwaters] with her dog and she was overwhelmed by tidal-wave-type waves.”
The flash flooding dislodged boulders and smashed them into her house, damaging part of its wall, Neuhaus added.
Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed the woman’s death during a Monday morning news conference giving an update on the flooding, which has wrecked havoc in Orange County and the northeastern portion of the state near Vermont.
“We also lost an individual’s life. A young woman, 35 years old, who came out saying that her house was taking on too much water was with her dog and her fiancé literally saw her swept away,” Hochul said.
Two of her family members and her dog survived the harrowing ordeal, officials said Sunday.
Rescue teams retrieved her body from a ravine, officials confirmed Monday.
Her identity has not been made public.
Following the brutal 24-hour downpour, New York State Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, along with upstate Rep. Pat Ryan, have called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to mobilize its Disaster Assessment Teams and provide any assistance the state may require.
While the threat of flash flooding in northeastern New York along the Vermont border will remain high throughout Monday, the rain will likely relent by early Tuesday, according to meterologists.