All Over Albany

Surveying damage as flood recedes, top federal officials to tour damage, Schoharie and Greene counties hit especially hard, another pit bull attack in Schenectady

The flood waters receded in much the greater Capital Region -- and people began to survey the extensive damage. National Grid says it's hoping to all have power restored to customers in the area by Thursday. [TU] [TU]

President Obama has declared a major disaster to 8 counties in New York: Albany, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Schenectady, Schoharie, and Ulster. Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, FEMA director Craig Fugate, and Andrew Cuomo will be touring Prattsville in Greene County today (map). Cuomo has been pushing for an expedited delivery of federal aid to the state: "Economically, that's the only bank for us to go to. Local governments are stretched, the state is stretched, we just went through a very tough budget process, but the federal help is going to be critical to us." [State of Politics] [WTEN] [TU]

Cuomo has been getting praise for his handling of the disaster -- he says he has a lot of experience dealing with disaster response from his time working in the federal government. The governor toured parts of the North Country yesterday that had bee hit by flooding. [NYT] [TU]

Irene could be end up being among the most costly natural disasters in the nation's history and private insurance may end up covering only about 40 percent of the damage because much of it is the result of flooding -- and many people don't have flood insurance. Locally, it appears very few people have flood insurance. [NYT] [TU]

In Montgomery County, a man was killed Monday after driving into the Schoharie Creek in an attempt to reach his business. [Daily Gazette]

As roads in Schoharie and Greene Counties opened back up, people started to assess the damage there and it's severe -- especially along the Schoharie Creek. Prattsville was almost completely destroyed. Windham's main street has been wrecked. And in other towns neighborhoods have been destroyed. People are vowing to rebuild. [Fox23] [Daily Gazette] [Reuters] [WNYT] [Daily Gazette] [Daily Freeman]

The Albany County Hilltowns -- Berne especially -- also got hit hard. [Fox23]

Officials are warning people to stay out of flood waters because it's almost certainly contaminated with raw sewage. People are being instructed to disinfect surfaces and items in flooded buildings. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The state Canal Corp. says there's "extensive damage" along the Erie Canal from just east of Utica to Waterford. It's unclear when that stretch of the canal may re-open. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Kirsten Gillibrand and Paul Tonko surveyed damage in Troy yesterday. Officials in Rensselaer County say the flooding highlight the need to repair and upgrade infrastructure such as bridges. [Troy Record] [Troy Record]

Not present in New York during Irene: Chuck Schumer -- which doesn't seem to have gone over well with Harry Tutunjian. [Politico]

The manager of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy says the restaurant will re-open -- though it's unclear when. [YNN]

The owner of Jumpin' Jack's says the flooding will probably force him to close for the season -- but he's vowing to re-open next spring. [Daily Gazette]

Flooding -- both recent and in the spring -- has set the Hudson River PCB dredging project back weeks. [Saratogian]

Says a woman who lives near the GlobalFoundries chip fab of the persistent hum the company says it's trying to silence: "I get very emotional about this. I'm really starting to lose my mind." [Post-Star]

The Trinity Alliance in Albany says the "stop the violence" party that occurred at the center this past weekend -- and after which four people were stabbed -- was not a sanctioned event and was organized by a now-former employee. [TU]

Schenectady police say two pit bulls chased -- and one bit -- a postal worker Tuesday in Mont Pleasant (map). The owner of the dogs was issued tickets for having dangerous dogs and letting them run loose. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

A Menands attorney was sentenced to 60 days in jail for being part of a scheme to sell marijuana shipped to the area from California. [TU]

A federal judge has allowed part of the lawsuit over the removal of the marquee from Cinema Art theater in Troy back in 2006 to move ahead. [TU]

The 9/11 memorial sculpture slated for Saratoga Springs won't be on display by September 11 because a permanent site hasn't been found, yet. [Daily Gazette]