By CARA MATTHEWS and JON CAMPBELL
Gannett Albany Bureau
ALBANY - After surveying heavy flooding in Binghamton and surrounding areas by helicopter Thursday, the governor requested federal emergency and disaster declarations for the Southern Tier, southern Finger Lakes, central New York, Hudson Valley and other regions hit by storms over the past two weeks.
Many areas of the state, from the Finger Lakes to the Hudson Valley, had significant flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Lee and declared states of emergency, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Broome County was particularly hard, and there were mandatory evacuations of Johnson City, West Corners, Vestal, Union and Conklin, along with about 20,000 people in Binghamton. Evacuations also were ordered in Margaretville, Delaware County, and Middleburgh, Schoharie County, which were experiencing new flooding after being socked by Tropical Storm Irene last week, Cuomo said.
The Susquehanna River in Binghamton exceeded its record flood level of 25 feet Wednesday morning - reached in June 2006 floods -- and was expected to crest at 26.2 feet Thursday evening. In Owego, Tioga County, the river was 38 feet - 6 feet higher than its record - and was expected to crest at close to 40 feet later Thursday evening, the governor said.
Lee dumped more than 10 inches of rain in some parts of the state, and 25,000 people were without power as of Thursday afternoon.
The New York National Guard directed more than 350 troops and 44 vehicles to the Southern Tier. State Police had about 600 personnel in the impacted area. The state Office of Emergency Management sent staff to Conklin and the counties of Greene, Broome and Schoharie.
"This is going to get much worse before it gets better," Cuomo said during a visit to the Broome County emergency operations headquarters in Dickinson. "This will be a flood, I believe, of historic proportions when all is said and done."
All schools were closed, and Broome County Executive Patrick Brennan issued an executive order closing all businesses. Brett Chellis, county director of emergency services, said it could be several days before waters recede below flood level.
In addition to the federal declarations for the Southern Tier, southern Finger Lakes, Central New York and Hudson Valley, Cuomo is requesting them for the Capital Region, southwestern New York and many areas previously affected by Tropical Storm Irene.
An emergency disaster declaration would make the state and local governments eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid for evacuations, sheltering and other protective measures. A federal disaster declaration would provide aid to cover emergency procedures and recovery aid. Communities would be reimbursed for emergency protective actions, and individuals and small businesses could receive individual aid or loans.
The state Department of Taxation and Finance announced Thursday it is extending certain tax filing and payment deadlines for counties that were declared disaster areas by President Obama. They are Albany, Clinton, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Montgomery, Nassau, Orange, Otsego, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Suffolk, Ulster, Warren and Westchester. More could be added as a result of Tropical Storm Lee.
Most deadlines have been extended to Oct. 31. The due date for withholding payments and Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax payments is now Monday.
There are no extensions for payments made through the Prompt Tax system for sales tax, prepaid sales tax and excise tax on motor fuel and diesel motor fuel and the petroleum business tax.
The agency will decide whether further extensions are warranted on a case-by-case basis, Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox said in a statement. Taxpayers can visit www.tax.ny.gov for more information.
In the Southern Tier, the Binghamton University Events Center is serving as a Red Cross shelter. A total of about 1,400 evacuees were being housed in the Events Center or the West Gym next door, and the school was not accepting additional evacuees, university spokeswoman Gail Glover said.
The school's dining service, Sodexo, has been providing food and beverages, she said.
Binghamton University cancelled classes Thursday afternoon for the rest of the day. It set up an alert Web page and a cancellation Web page. People can call one of the following numbers to check on family and friends - 888-787-0540 and 888-787-0541.
Howard Glaser, the governor's director of state operations, told Talk 1300 AM in Albany Thursday morning that that Route 17, the Southern Tier Expressway, was "covered by a river of water," which he saw during the helicopter tour
I-88 had a mudslide Wednesday night and I-81 has some undermining, and both have had closures, Glaser said.
"It will take a long time to recover if this holds true and these floodwaters stay up here as we think they're going to," he said.
State officials are also working in the Schoharie Valley.
"We don't expect the widespread kind of flooding to reoccur that we had last week nor of what we're going to see today in Binghamton, but nonetheless it's taken a difficult situation that was beginning to hopefully stabilize a little today and sets it back a little bit in the Schoharie Valley," Glaser said.
CLMATTHE@gannett.com
Includes reporting by the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.