TS Lee leaves record flooding in its wake

PENNSYLVANNIA (AP):

Nearly 100,000 people from New York to Maryland were ordered to flee the rising Susquehanna River yesterday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped more rain across the Northeast, closing major highways and soaking areas still recovering from Hurricane Irene.

At Binghamton, New York, the wide river broke a flood record and flowed over retaining walls downtown as more than eight inches (20 centimetres) of rain fell in some areas. Road closures effectively sealed the city off to outside traffic as emergency responders scrambled to evacuate holdouts who didn't heed warnings to leave neighbourhoods.

Most of the people ordered to evacuate their homes were about 80 miles (128 kilometres) downstream in Wilkes-Barre, where the river was projected to crest yesterday, the same height as the levee system, officials said. Residents were ordered to leave by 4 p.m.

Rising water levels

In Port Deposit, Maryland, rising water levels at the Conowingo Dam forced officials to open the floodgates and order the evacuation of most of the Susquehanna River town's 1,000 residents.

Evacuation orders were issued on Wednesday to some 20,000 people in Binghamton and neighbouring communities along the Susquehanna. More than 70,000 residents in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston were told to leave. So were people in about 170 homes about 90 miles (145 kilometres) downstream in Harrisburg, where crews put sandbags around the governor's mansion.