BINGHAMTON (AP) -- The rain-swollen Susquehanna River has broken a flood record in Binghamton.
The river has overflowed retaining walls downtown, leaving officials scrambling to evacuate holdouts who didn't heed earlier warnings to leave neighborhoods.
The National Weather Service says the river level is over 25 feet. That's above the 25-foot record set in 2006 and more than 11 feet above flood stage. It's expected to rise another foot or so.
"I believe this will be a flood of historic proportions when all is said and done," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, according to Gannett reporters based in Albany.
"We did an aerial survey this morning. This is going to get much worse before it gets better."
Water started coming over the walls in Binghamton at about 10 a.m., less than 12 hours after officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for sections of the city near where the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers converge.
Evacuation orders began being issued Wednesday to some 20,000 people in the city and neighboring communities.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee caused flooding across much of the eastern upstate area. The Mohawk and Hudson rivers in the Capital Region are expected to flood.
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