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gl-rochester
  GL-drainsThe Great Lakes all drain into Lake Ontario, and Lake Ontario drains through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
 
At normal lake levels, Beattie Beach residents had up to 50 feet of beach.
 
 
Photos from before the flooding...
 
   
   
   
 
The old air tank protruded more than two feet out of the water.
 
  beach-before

Before the flooding, the beach extended all the way to the rocks at the Shoremont end. There were intact breakwalls and decks.
 
  pano-before


Pano taken June 18, 2016 (11 MB file)

 
  bags
Flooding started with water pouring between our houses, we started piling sandbags up, but the water went over the top of the sandbags when big waves hit.
 
  bridge
The bridge that was recently rebuilt on Edgemere Drive at Round Pond was almost touched by the water, even with no waves action. We guess that they never anticipated water levels of 249 feet when they recently built this bridge...
 
  sumps
Water level rose rapidly under our house at 610 Edgemere Drive, nearly reaching our rafters. We were quoted $7,500.00 by a company to install three sump pumps. Instead of doing that, with a quick trip to Home Depot and about $500.00 expense, we set up three pumps that quickly emptied the water out. We use a 1/3 HP garden hose type manual pump, and a 3/4 HP sump pump with a second 1 HP sump pump set at slightly higher levels. This provides high capacity and redundant coverage. Each pump serves as a backup to the other ones.
 
  sumping
As the water level rose, any wave action caused large amounts of water to enter our crawlspace. The garden hose pump was running full-time, and the 3/4HP sump pump was running 50% of the time,so we added the 1 HP additional sump pump as a backup and higher capacity pump.
 
  sandbags lots
The Town of Greece working with the National Guard set up a massive sandbag filling and distribution center with drive-in service. It was greatly appreciated !
 
  bag wall
As the water levels rose, a mere 15 MPH NorEaster caused waves to climb up our breakwall, so we topped off our breakwall with three layers of sandbags lashed down to deck timbers with 160 lb test paracord. The deck timbers were salvaged from boat racks that were destroyed by the waves.
 
  tent-1
With Edgemere Drive closed for more than a month, we set up a tent to raise awareness of the White House petition to Stop IJC Plan 2014.
 
  tent crowd
We tried to make the best of it...
 
  pump 1
The big pumps were brought in to clear water from the street. They worked but are noisy and emit a lot of diesel fumes. They are very high maintenance and need to be constantly tended to by town personnel.
 
  old orange
An old pump from the early 1950s was hauled out and after a day of maintenance was started up. It really works...but houses on the pond side are really flooded.
 
  wall oil
The National Guard came and built a massive sandbag wall wrapped in white polyethylene sheet. Then they backed it up with a wall of heavy concrete blocks to hold back the Round Pond rising waters. At one point the water was almost two feet higher on the pond side. We started to see diesel oil on the surface of the water; we believe that it was leaking from the pumps.
 
  street pump bags
Trash pumps were brought in to help out. They are very noisy with small gas tanks, and are not meant for continuous 24/7 duty, but they do move a lot of water. They were getting flooded also, so they were placed on top of concrete pilings.
 
  brokensammie wall


One breakwall that had been there since the 1950s was completely broken up by a small 15 MPH NE storm. It is the kind of breakwall built with rocks piled into fencing and topped off with concrete.
 
  pano1

pano 2

pano 3

Three panoramic photos of Edgemere Drive during peak flooding. These are large files (~11 MB). Click on each one.
 
  condos poster

At the Edgemere Beach Condominums, there had been a large sandy beach with volleyball nets...before the flooding...
 
  condos rocks
In the 1950s rocks were piled in front of the condos to slow erosion. They were covered with sand for many years. They are now totally exposed for the first time in a long time...no room for volleyball nets now.
 
  orange big

A big orange dri-prime pump has added 8" diameter pumping capacity. It is awesome and very quiet. Unfortunately it is very tricky to get it primed due to small vacuum leaks in the intake line...
 
  sammy-sand
Sand has plowed past the broken breakwall and created a new beach going almost to the street...
 
  sewage pump
The main sewage pump is being heavily protected from the flooding, with an emergency trash pump and previously with a backup electrical diesel generator.
 
  bags torn

We wondered - what are those white things out at the rocks alongside the Round Pond channel ? They are torn up sandbags that were shredded by wave action. They are made in Inodesia and meant to biodegrade, we are told. Some of the old sandbags from the 1970s are still found at various locations - obviously they were not meant to biodegrade. Is our flooding situation appropriate for biodegradable sandbags ? Good question !!
 
  tall bags
Some sandbag walls have gotten quite high !
 
  walls
The variety of seawall improvisations is incredible..some plywood, some barrels, etc.
 
 

Some houses are so badly damaged, it is hard to figure out where to begin...
 
 

pump video

Video clip of blue pump running 24/7 on Edgemere Drive.

 
  deck-jacked up
One thing that most people don't realize is that the damage is not only done by water and wind. Many times, the damage is done by huge trees that have been knocked into the lake. When the come by the shoreline during powerful storms, they do a lot of damage. This deck was pushed up and then undermined by two large trees.
 
  braddock-docks

The docks at Braddock Bay were destroyed.
 
  crescent-pier

The pier at the Crescent Beach Restaurant has been destroyed. This will not help their reconstruction efforts at all...
 
  shark rock

At Round Pond outlet, the wall has been destabilized, and many rocks have been displaced. Fortunately, the famous Shark Rock is still holding on...
 
  shoremont-end
The view from the Shoremont rocks showing the radically changed shoreline at that end. Compare to the photos taken June 18, 2016.
 
  edgemere-end-1

At the pond side, several homes are quite badly affected...
 
  edge-pond-2

Quite devastated. Some homes have 5 feet of water in their basement with fish swimming inside...
 
  dun-1

Large waves tore up the shoreline...
 
  dun-2  
  dun-3  
  dun-3  
   
  loch-vid-1

YouTube Video slide show 1. by Sharon Lochman

"15 Miles of Destruction"
 
  sloch-vid-2

YouTube Video slide show 2. by Sharon Lochman

"15 Miles of Destruction (cont.)"
 
  webster-breakwall

One house in Webster is high on the hill, but the concrete breakwall is starting to be taken apart by the wave action and high waters. It is amazing how steel-reinforced concrete can be ripped up.