UPDATE: Rivers are cresting lower and earlier than expected, and I am going to Harrisburg to cover the flooding for AccuWeather.com today (Friday). Below is the latest graph from there.

Monitor the J-CAM (below this blog) and the J-LOCATOR below to see where I'm at.

Meanwhile, here's yesterday's story:

I traveled from State College to York, PA today to cover the flooding for AccuWeather.com. Below is the path that I took, and the stops that I made to take pictures and video, overlaid onto a 4-day precipitation map showing over a foot of rain falling in the Susquehanna Valley.

The photos below are marked with the time on the flood gauge graphs when they were taken. Click here to see all photos enlarged.

(1) In Lewistown, the creek had receded by the time I got there. Still, there was some flooding of access areas off of McClintic Avenue.

(2) Below Lewistown at the Boat Access, the Juniata River was high and part of the parking lot was under water.

(3) I took the west bank of the river on Route 11/15 because 322 was closed (see #4 below). This led me to Railroad Road, a gravel road next to the river. Homes here (which are normally more than a hundred feet from shore) were taking on water and some people were evacuating and packing up trucks with their possessions. One man was not. "Respect the River," he said. I asked him if he had ever been there with water this high and he said no (and it still had 4-6 feet to rise by the forecast). I said, "If they ask you to evacuate, please do." With only a handful of homes here on the other side of the tracks, they might be forgotten.

(4) Route 322 was closed in Harrisburg because it was under water (note the elevation of the road signs leading down into Dauphin Narrows on the photos). The "Statue of Liberty" shown usually has another 10 feet on its tower at the bottom.

I finally made it from 11/15 (which was closed at the Harrisburg waterfront) to Interstate 83 to York. York sustained major flooding this week, but all creeks had fallen by the time I got there, with only telltale parking lots of mud, crushed grass and debris in yards to tell the tale.

(5) Going east from York to Wrightsville and (on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River) Columbia PA, a local park was flooded. With another 3 feet to go, the west side of the town may be under water by Friday evening. This poor town, like so many small towns up and down the Susquehanna, had no flood protection and little media coverage - there were only locals taking pictures of the inundated park. Finally on a nearby hill with a view of the river, I saw ABC27 setting up for a live shoot (bottom pictures above).

On Friday, I plan to check back in with Columbia and the town to its northwest, Marietta, from which the graph above comes. And I plan to attack Harrisburg from its more vulnerable southern flank, to attempt to photograph what will likely be the biggest flood there in 40 years. So many roads and bridges will be closed that I may have to bring along the telephoto lens. Stay tuned for updates tomorrow!

For additional photos and videos, and information on other areas in the Northeast, see the AccuWeather.com Facebook Page and AccuWeather.com.

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