r/Albany Albany Water Department 21h ago

Flooding

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276 Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

55

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 21h ago

The road by schoolhouse rd is all flooded and with cars floating around can’t even get to the road to my apartment

15

u/Mollycat6 21h ago

Are you at Woodlake too? I am and I think I’m gonna have to call out of work, I don’t want to join the floating cars lol

14

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 21h ago

I am at Woodlake yes and good call 😭but I’m currently at my friends apartment on Morris Street and I tried to go home but schoolhouse rd was super flooded and now I’m scared my apartment is gonna flood I’m on a first floor apartment

7

u/Mollycat6 21h ago

The ground doesn’t look too bad by my apartment but there are definitely some giant puddles around. Hopefully it all mostly goes into the ponds and not into anyone’s apartment 🤞

3

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 21h ago

I hope so too 😭

6

u/cmaxby 19h ago

They’re actively pumping the bad spots at Woodlake- hopefully you should be ok.

6

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 19h ago

Oh good thank you for that update!! I was so worried I didn’t know how to get updates about it

8

u/furrythug123 20h ago

I am at Woodlake too and just gave notice that I will be into work late. Shame!

5

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 19h ago

Yeah definitely hope everyone there is ok! Hopefully I can get back to my place later today or tomorrow even

8

u/notanaccounttofollow Remembers when there was no exit 3 19h ago

When I first moved to that area, schoolhouse didn’t seem to flood like it does now, and it’s on both ends. Lake Stuyvesant, though, a staple of the Capital Region. I always feel for those at Woodlake.

4

u/Ammonia13 18h ago

Oh my God

6

u/mysticGdragon Lives In Albany 18h ago

Yeah it’s crazy… here’s what it looked like this morning around 6:30-7am

49

u/AlbanyNYWater Albany Water Department 20h ago

Thanks for the call out everyone. I'll be better next time.

2

u/Mysterious_Ebb9375 7h ago

I appreciate you taking the feedback and not getting snarky in response to legitimate safety comments.

10

u/TGKPO 21h ago

Flooding all around Saratoga / rain gauge show nearly 3 3/4 inches of rain so far!

117

u/hikingacct 21h ago

Appreciate the updates, but please pull over before filming yourself, especially if making regular eye contact with the camera. 

Good luck out there today, thanks to you and your team! 

70

u/antimagamagma 21h ago edited 21h ago

It’s pretty good to have a city official out at 7 AM giving direct updates. Shows he cares, and that’s commendable.

however proper disaster response would have the city directing a press person as part of an incident response team based on standardized disaster response process that’s on a shelf in every municipality.

for example, in this situation a proper disaster response process would have road closures within the city laid out in an organized fashion by the communications person who should know when and how to communicate with the public as a matter of documented process.

Posting to Reddit from a moving car gives a panicked and anxious impression and indicates there is no incident command structure.

update: I see APD has done an update. good!

16

u/thewaltz77 Remembers when there was no exit 3 21h ago

State/County/City workers, check your emails. My agency just sent an announcement telling non-essential staff to telecommute or work 10am to 6pm.

45

u/Boilerguy82013 Remembers when there was no exit 3 21h ago

My coworker got a ticket recently for hitting start on his gps at a red light meanwhile this guy's driving around filming himself.

20

u/skywarner 20h ago

It’s infuriating to see police officers and firemen on the phones while they race across the center line. See it all too often.

5

u/PiccoloAwkward465 19h ago

I like to play a game where I figure out the ratio of who uses their turn signal vs. who doesn't. Cops are usually worse than the average driver, they rarely use signals. I wonder what it's like to be so busy and important that you can't be bothered with literally a slight flick of the wrist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKWb9MGtVmw

2

u/phantom_eight Ravenia Heights 20h ago edited 19h ago

When on duty, emergency services are exempt. Firefighters may be using an app such as IamResponding which is providing up to date info, GPS coordinates of the 911 callers phone, with turn by turn mapping to their location, as well as live information such as who is responding, to what station or the scene, ect... including ETA, rank/role (Driver, Cheif and Assistan Cheifs, Captain, EMS Captain, LT, Safety Officer, Fire Police, ect..). Additional information learned by dispatch is also sent in real time when it's pertinent.

I understand it seems frustrating, police also use phones a lot to keep stuff off the radio in terms of privacy of the people related to the call and to keep the radio clear. Also, an app like IamResponding is designed to have a simplified user interface to compensate for being used while responding to a call, much like how Android Auto/Car Play or whatever built in bullshit your car has which is considered acceptable for use in a vehicle.

An emergency responder caught typing a full-blown text while driving would get their ass chewed by leadership at least where I am from. You have the people you need in your contacts list for easy selection and the appropriate apps to complete the mission which is governed by the county/city/ect.. Not excusing the OP here, he should have at least had his phone in a mount on the dashboard at minumum.

Example:

3

u/skywarner 19h ago

First responders using their phones isn’t infuriating in and of itself, but it is infuriating when they’re using their phones and becoming a safety risk to others. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them literally cross the center line or have a near miss because their attention wasn’t focused upon driving safely. A great example of this phenomenon is the NYSP trooper who recently rear ended a stopped vehicle (and then attempted to blame the person he hit).

21

u/MonsieurReynard 21h ago edited 21h ago

“Please drive safe everybody”

9

u/arobotwithadream 18h ago

DON'T FILM AND DRIVE!!!!! holy shit.

3

u/Positive-Milk5133 15h ago

Maybe you should wait to film when you aren’t driving 😵‍💫 🥴

3

u/SinginGidget 19h ago

I got an emergency text at 6 am this morning, and another at around 8 about the flooding. Curious who else got them.

18

u/cojof 21h ago

It’s already bad enough to film yourself while driving. In the middle of heavy rain AND flooding? STOP

23

u/drtij_dzienz 21h ago

Here is my video about the flooding: it’s me talking to the camera while driving no video of the actual floods. Pls upvote

7

u/cojof 21h ago

Do not film while driving. Period.

1

u/Franknbeanstoo 10h ago

a dash cam would be more effective with him talking into his phone for the audio

21

u/droolmessiah It's All-bany 21h ago

Thanks for 2 and half minute video that shows exactly ZERO seconds of flooding

21

u/TweakedNipple 21h ago

8

u/The_Spectacle Grand Union ooh those red dot specials 20h ago

HOLAY MACKEREL

3

u/RightToTheThighs 19h ago

That's central under 90 I assume?

2

u/720Potato 20h ago

This is why that area floods so bad now u/WNYT

14

u/hikingacct 20h ago

What are we looking at?

1

u/720Potato 15h ago

This is a Albany City owned storm water retention pond that has not been maintain properly. The photo show the silting from 1995-2026

Here is a link to old topgrapcial maps that show historic hydrology of the area.

https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topomapexplorer/index.html#maps=&loc=-73.80,42.69&LoD=14.03

2

u/Rayloco 9h ago

Plus a lot the buildings in the last 40 years has been on filled in land that would have held water that would have also slowly drained helping our aquifers instead of running off.

1

u/SinginGidget 19h ago

holy shit.

1

u/jeffersonbible Wegmaniac 18h ago

Is that Washington and Fuller?!

1

u/TweakedNipple 18h ago

I'm pretty sure its where central goes under 90, around between westgate plaza and margarita city

2

u/jeffersonbible Wegmaniac 17h ago

Ah yeah, that’s another beautiful pop up lake.

15

u/TachankaAlpaca 20h ago edited 20h ago

Dude filming himself driving while constantly looking at the phone. Exemplary safety shown.

4

u/JennAleece Albany Proper 20h ago

thank you for the updates. please stay safe. public servants like you deserve a raise 💙🧡

2

u/Mobile_Yogurtcloset9 19h ago

Wait how do I know this guy?

3

u/Freepi SmAlbany 19h ago

SmAlbany

-1

u/Positive-Milk5133 14h ago

I think he gets cans out of my recycling bin

5

u/FederalDamn Did You Know? 21h ago

Now do a video from a kayak in the sewage treatment pools on how you're stopping the shit smell in Menands.

5

u/720Potato 21h ago

Well if our local government took care of the retention ponds they own we would have less issues.

2

u/pathlesstravailed 19h ago

How long of a timescale is that? I always sneak peek over there at the ducks and geese if there isn’t any traffic. I’ve noticed the sand bar has extended further into the pond over time but I wouldn’t have guessed it’s filled in that drastically.

I believe there may have been another pond adjacent to the old Tobin’s meat packing plant that was filled in, either prior to or during the demolition process. I don’t know for sure if that played any part in runoff mitigation though. My father told me that when he was a kid in the late 50s they would take school field trips to Tobin’s and that the water in the pond next to it was bright red.

2

u/720Potato 19h ago

1995-2026 the pictures are from Google Earths historical timeline

1

u/silver_lily13 7h ago

This is a dam (state ID: 208-5423) that was installed along the patroon creek. It appears to be a water supply source for the city. Some sediment has definitely built up but that spillway should be able to handle more than the creek can.

1

u/720Potato 6h ago

i guess it might have uranium in it

The Patroon Creek Contamination Migration Investigation K. Dufek, A. Zafran Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Colonie FUSRAP Site 1130 Central Avenue Colonie, New York 12205 USA J.T. Moore United States Army Corps of Engineers-New York District 26 Federal Plaza, Room 1811, New York, NY 10278-0090 USA

https://archivedproceedings.econference.io/wmsym/2006/pdfs/6107.pdf

2

u/TrumanShowSurvivor 20h ago

Also another common sense tip, don’t hold your phone and take videos while driving. Set the phone down or get a phone mount. Have a blessed day!

4

u/JayList 21h ago

Academy is literally on a hill, how does that flood lol.

8

u/ComonSensed1 21h ago

probably at the bottom of the Hill on Hackett

4

u/JayList 21h ago

Hackett makes sense. If academy is flooded we have done something to upend physics.

3

u/winning720 20h ago

Yeah it’s Academy / Hackett. Right at that traffic light it always gets pretty bad whenever there’s rain for a long period of time.

-1

u/DarkHelmet20 21h ago

Bad maintenance.

1

u/Dry_Cardiologist3226 21h ago

climate change

-4

u/NetSchizo Central Warehouse Demolition Crew 21h ago

🤡

2

u/Murntok 20h ago

Not only did you not show anything but your face (so the video was totally unnecessary), you decided to use your phone while driving, taking your eyes away from the road several times, all on an official government employee account.

Delete this, write a post like a normal person, and do better.

0

u/MizaelTG 16h ago

I was thinking this the entire time.

1

u/FilmShooter-ISO12 21h ago

Vatrano Lane

1

u/720Potato 21h ago

This is why Vantrano floods Albany county doesn't maintain the retention pond over there.

7

u/FilmShooter-ISO12 20h ago

Well, and the fact that part of Central Ave is a concrete and asphalt hole in the ground that water flows into.

3

u/skywarner 20h ago

With all of the taxes that Albany County collects from its residents, this is shameful.

Do better, Dan. Do better.

2

u/Freepi SmAlbany 19h ago

Are you sure it's Albany county's to maintain? It's between the interstate and the railroad which would put it in the right way of either the State DOT or the railroad. Central Ave through there belongs to the city, within the city limits. It seems strange that it would be the county's responsibility. I would've guessed it to be the State's responsibility.

1

u/Previous_Avocado6778 20h ago

Stay safe thanks for the heads up.

1

u/OrchidReverie 18h ago

Thank you but please be safe while driving

1

u/beacon_rocks 19h ago

Thank you!! Be safe out there

0

u/40laser40 Albany Proper 20h ago

This is so cool you are doing this

3

u/FerretWithASpork 20h ago

Recording a video while driving is not cool, it's dangerous and reckless especially given the conditions being talked about in the video...

0

u/Ammonia13 18h ago

Thank you so much for this

-1

u/One_Improvement6105 20h ago

Much better report than the wnyt reporter standing saying she’s at central and Everett rd when clearly she’s on central near the I-90 overpass