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Well, folks, what a storm, what a peculiar storm.  In the history of Mill River floods that goes back 350 years, this was one of the few times that the Connecticut River tributaries had record high water, while the big river remained well below record levels.  This is chiefly due to the season of the year — it’s late summer, and there’s no snow pack to add to the big river, so, while the Connecticut is plenty high, it’s not the main source of our farmers’ woes.  It’s the Deerfield River, for example, that did most of the damage in the Pioneer Valley.

Furthermore, summer floods, caused by hurricanes, tend to be pretty flashy.  Look at the Mill River statistics in today’s Gazette: The Mill River peaked at a record high of 16.42 feet at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, eclipsing the old record of 15.6 feet.  The river had receded to 6.95 feet as of Tuesday afternoon.  All of you who got out on Sunday and then viewed the situation on Monday, caught the meaning of the term “flash flood,” and you’ve got a hint of the fear that the Mill River brought to the valley that dreadful morning of May 16th, 1874, when the dam on the Mill River’s East Branch failed and caused the flash flood that killed 139 people.

We’re still digesting the enormity of this weekend’s flooding of the Mill river — and cleaning up our own yards — we’ll scratch some more thoughts together once things settle down a bit. Hoping Northampton fares ok when the Connecticut River crests tomorrow and thankful that no one’s been injured around here. Lots of water to deal with, lets make sure we’re helping out our neighbors along the river and otherwise who are dealing with serious damage.

In the meantime please share your pics and videos of the river during Irene with us in the comments section below.

Here’s a compilation of Burgy village flooding footage from Williamsburg resident Tom Adams of Reelife Productions

SAVE THIS DATE: Saturday Oct. 1 is the day we’ll set aside for a Mill River cleanup that we’ll coordinate with the CT River Watershed Council’s Source-to-Sea cleanup.

Mill River Greenway members should weigh in on the section of our river where we should focus our attention.  Which section of our river is most in need of a clean up?

We’ll formulate a plan early in September.  Meanwhile, please save the date!

The Mill River Greenway is a working group of local citizens representing all of the towns within the Mill River Watershed with the aim of protecting the watershed, preserving its cultural artifacts, enhancing its biological health and encouraging recreational activities.  Our ultimate goal is to design and create a greenway along the Mill River.

We’re justing getting started, please stay tuned for more. If you’re interested in getting involved, send us an email.