Water World
It seems that the Earth has been in a period of turbulence recently. Hurricanes, earthquakes and severe weather have consistently dominated the front page of many newspapers.
Just a few weeks ago, Hurricane Irene barreled her way up the east coast, destroying much of Vermont and northern New York. Then, just a short time later, backlash from tropical storm Lee wreaked havoc on northern Pennsylvania and central New York. Severe weather stemming from Irene missed Alfred almost entirely, and the effects of tropical storm Lee were felt only as rain and cold weather this past week. However many people were not as lucky as Alfred residents.
Residents of central New York and Northern Pennsylvania are attempting to dry out after what has been some of the worst floods on record in those areas. The Susquehanna River is raging at levels not seen for years and is distributing its contents to unhappy residents of the towns it borders. Nationally, there hasn’t been much reported about the flooding and the Canacadea creek has not overflowed but that does not mean that the impact of tropical storm Lee has not been felt on campus.
A large percentage of students attending Alfred University are from the state of New York or the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Consequently, there are a sizable number of students who hail from towns and cities devastated by tropical storm Lee. These students are currently safe and sound at Alfred University, but their families are not. Their families are at home, trying to clean up what receding floodwaters have left behind.
Elizabeth Leonard, a senior from Owego, NY spoke about the situation in her hometown, which was underneath multiple feet of water on Wednesday. Leonard's family was evacuated from their home just after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. At the time the water level in the family’s basement had risen to the top step of the staircase. By the end of that day, nine feet of water had accumulated in the front yard, completely submerging even the cars. Four feet of water accumulated in the first floor of the house.
The water has slowly receded and now it is up to the family to clean up the inch and a half of mud that was left behind. The first floor will need to be completely renovated. Leonard was highly concerned about the flooding but also very thankful that her family and friends were all safe.
“Its disappointing, its heartbreaking” she said, “but at this point its done. There is nothing you can do about it but try and fix it.”
Leonard is certainly not the only student who has been affected by natural disasters recently. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at Alfred University who have been effected by Hurricane Irene or tropical storm Lee.
