Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Support
  • WSKG Passport
  • School Closings
Donate
  • Donate
  • logo
  • logo
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
  • Donate
  • More
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Support
    • WSKG Passport
    • School Closings

WSKG - Local news and arts, broadcasting NPR radio and PBS TV.

WSKG (https://wskg.org/news/kirkwood-motel-displaced/)

  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
Listen Live - WSKG
Trusted News, Thoughtful Conversations
Listen Live - WSKG Classical
Music and More

Kirkwood Motel’s “Tight-Knit” Community Displaced And Dispersed By Flash Floods

By Sarah Gager | August 18, 2018
More
  • More on Broome County NY
  • Subscribe to Broome County NY

Sarah Gager / WSKG Public Media

Residents at the Kirkwood Motel evacuated as flood waters began to rise

VESTAL, NY (WSKG) – People are still displaced following recent flash floods in New York and Pennsylvania. The Red Cross of the Southern Tier said they sheltered nearly 140 people in several affected counties.

https://wskg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-Kirkwood-Motel-flood-spot.mp3

Carol—who gave only her first name—was at the Conklin shelter getting information from volunteers. The Conklin shelter will be shut down at 6:30PM on Saturday.

When the flood waters started to rise, she was at home at the Kirkwood Motel. Kirkwood is about 10 miles southeast of Binghamton. She saw an emergency vehicle go by. Her neighbor yelled “Emergency!” She grabbed her wallet and keys and waded through water to jump in the car.

Sarah Gager / WSKG News

Water damage to the doors and walls of the Kirkwood Motel shows how high the water rose during the flash floods.

The water was nearly as high as her car door. A few neighbors who had left, returned to their motel to make sure everyone got out okay. The next morning, Carol and her landlady went back to assess the damages.

“So the next morning, we went back to the motel. Everything, all the debris and wood and everything, had knocked her fence down. People’s garbage cans were in the yard. Our rooms are destroyed. Totally destroyed.”

Carol says a few of the motel’s residents went to stay at the Del Motel in Binghamton. Some ended up at the YMCA and one woman went to a women’s shelter. Carol plans to stay in Scranton for a little while. Her landlady owns another motel there.

“The hardest part of this is losing what you had, because it adds more of a value to you,” Carol expressed, “But we’ll make it. We’ll make it.”

Because Carol and her neighbors at the motel were a tight-knit community, she hopes they will be reunited.

The Red Cross is distributing recovery materials and food at Five Mile Point fire station in Kirkwood this weekend.

Recent Posts

  • 95-Year-Old WWII Veteran Gets Surprise Visit From An 'Old Friend': A Sherman Tank
    PA Veteran Gets Surprise Visit From An ‘Old Friend’: A Sherman Tank

    The last time Clarence Smoyer rode in a Sherman tank, he was a 21-year-old corporal in the U.S. Army. That was in 1945.

  • CBS Releases Trailer For “Twilight Zone” Revamp

    BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) -- It’s official. The legendary show of Binghmaton’s hometown hero, Rod Serling, is getting a reboot.

  • Out Of Court Settlement In The Works Between ACLU and PA’s Prison System

    HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) -- After a day in federal court, the state Corrections Department is settling a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over a boost in legal mail security the groups say violated inmates’ First Amendment rights. The full details of the settlement won’t be out for at least two weeks.

  • Law Enforcement Describes Deadly Boeheim Crash As ‘Horrible, Sad Tragedy’

    SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) - Law enforcement officials are describing a deadly car accident involving Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim as a horrible, sad tragedy. Boeheim hit and killed a man who was fleeing a disabled vehicle on Interstate 690 in Syracuse.

  • Statewide Rallies Call For More Mental Health Housing Funds

    BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) - Statewide rallies are being held weekly demanding the Governor increased state funding for mental health housing. The 'Bring It Home Coalition' is staging rallies each Thursday in Long Island, New York City, Syracuse and here in Buffalo, targeting state lawmakers.  “We’re just not getting the kind of response that we really need from them, because these are their programs – they fund them and they should fund them adequately,” stated Toni Lasicki, executive director, Association for Community Living in Albany.

changes on  WSKG and WSQX radio

About WSKG

WSKG connects you to local and global news and the arts online, on the radio, and on TV. NPR and PBS affiliate.

Contact Us

email: WSKGcomment@wskg.org

phone: 607.729.0100

address: 601 Gates Road, Vestal, NY 13850

DONATE

Pay an underwriting invoice

  • WSKG
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Science
  • News
  • Radio
  • Schedule
  • TV
  • About
  • WSKG Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Public Reports & Policies
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Protect My Public Media
FCC PUBLIC FILES
WSKG-FM
WSQX-FM
WSQG-FM
WSQE
WSQA
WSQC-FM
WSQN
WSKG-TV
WSKA
Disabled and need assistance with the online FCC public file?
Contact Gregory Keeler
WSKG
601 Gates Road
Vestal, New York 13850
607-729-0100
gkeeler@wskg.org

Stay Connected

Like Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on InstagramSubscribe via RSS

© Copyright 2019, WSKG

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

No, thanks