Flooding was observed to reach about one-and-a-half feet at the intersection of Euclid and Lancaster avenues Tuesday afternoon after an intense thunderstorm. Flooding stretched from the middle of the 600 block to the middle of the 700 block of Euclid, forcing most cars to turn around and find an alternate route.

A Hoagie Haven truck was disabled after trying to drive through the water, observers at the scene said.

At around 4:40 p.m., about 35 people were standing on water-covered lawns and sidewalks, watching traffic drive through the intersection. As rain began to fall again at 4:57 p.m., most students headed indoors.

Zach Goldstein, a senior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprise major, said he was sitting on the porch waiting for the rainstorm to come through. He said only bigger trucks were able to make it through the intersection. A smaller car’s bumper was taken off as it tried to drive through, he said.

Six students worked to push the Hoagie Haven truck out of the road and into a driveway on Lancaster after it was disabled.

Sam Okazaki, a junior photography major who lives on the 600 block of Euclid, said she ran outside with her camera around 4:20 p.m. after hearing the storm.

‘There were torrential downpours instantly,’ she said.

She said she saw a man wearing water-wings riding a boogie board being towed by a truck through the water.

Joesph Montesano, a senior construction management major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, said he grabbed his roommate’s kayak and took it out into the middle of Lancaster.

‘I got a text that said there was a flood party on Euclid, so I headed outside,’ he said.

At 4:50 p.m., a Syracuse city truck arrived and an employee began clearing storm drains of debris to allow water through. As of 5:40 p.m., the street was still flooded.

Check dailyorange.com for updates.

knmciner@syr.edu

Published on April 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm