Dam break that sent water gushing through New Lebanon under investigation

New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling says they’re still in the process of investigating to find out what caused a beaver dam to break in nearby Massachusetts.

The dam broke around 4 a.m. Thursday morning, and a giant amount of water about two or three feet tall came rushing through the town.

Houghtling believes it was a giant beaver dam holding in a pond, and when it released, it let the entire pond of water down the stream into the town. With the Massachusetts line nearby, she says they believe it happened in Massachusetts, so they must wait for Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate.

Several homes were damaged and had flooding in their basements.

Meantime, Houghtling applauded a crew made up of different agencies, volunteers and residents from the community for the quick cleanup. She said volunteers from the fire department pumped water out of peoples’ basements.

The silver lining in all of this is no one got hurt, Houghtling said.