SCHENECTADY COUNTY — Rick Kaufman awoke to find nearly 10 inches of dirt covering his front yard and driveway.

Torrential downpours on Wednesday and Thursday filled a nearby drainage creek, causing muddy water to wash by his home off Route 160 in Rotterdam Junction. The result was a flooded garage, a foot of water in his cellar and a new layer of silt over the property.

“From the creek to here was straight water,” he said from his driveway, pointing to a small drainage creek by the Thruway overpass.

Kaufman was among dozens of residents in Rotterdam Junction who suffered property damage when small tributaries and the old Erie Canal swelled with storm runoff. State officials kept Route 160 closed throughout the day Thursday as Department of Transportation employees worked to restore the road.

It was a common scene as highway crews tried to stabilize roads throughout the rural edges of western Schenectady County. The damage was significant enough to prompt county officials to re-establish a state of emergency Thursday afternoon, as they had during the heavy rain Wednesday.

The emergency allowed the county to mobilize public works crews from the city of Schenectady and Niskayuna under mutual assistance agreements. These crews were sent to Glenville and Duanesburg to assist county crews repairing more than two dozen roads and nearly 100 private driveways.

Department of Public Works Director Joe Ryan estimated the county sustained at least $1.3 million in damage caused by the back-to-back rainstorms, which washed out culverts and even a small bridge in Duanesburg. He said the damages could climb higher once estimates are completed.

“Our preliminary damage numbers are at $200,000 and we are looking at $1.3 million in permanent repairs,” he said.

Ryan said the county has contacted the state Emergency Management Office and is hoping the area will be declared a disaster zone so the county can obtain reimbursement.

Calls placed to SEMO officials were not returned Thursday.

Debris choking a Schoharie Creek tributary clogged a massive culvert running beneath Old Highway 30 near the town line between Esperance in Schoharie County and Duanesburg. Eventually, the rushing water crested over the road and washed out a more than 20-foot-long swath of pavement.

Maryann Murphy, Duansburg’s planning and zoning clerk and a resident of Route 30, was astounded by the damage caused by the ordinarily tame waterway. She said the creek was flowing so rapidly that she could hear massive rocks crashing together beneath the water.

“Then all of a sudden, it emptied right out,” she said, surveying the bare culvert pipe and suspended guard rail. “You have to see it to believe it.”

Ryan was unsure whether the culvert could be saved. He said the crossing was about 25 years old and was in good condition prior to the heavy rains. “That bridge was designed for a 100-year storm, and this storm took it out,” he said.

The swollen creek also undermined a garage off Route 30 and a culvert along Creek Road in Schoharie. In Duanesburg, North Road near Mariaville Lake remained closed after a culvert washed away.

The National Weather Service in Albany reported that some areas of the county received up to 5.45 inches of rain in 24 hours. Ordinarily, only 2.6 inches of rain drops in all of July, explained meteorologist Evan Heller.

“That’s twice the normal for the month in just 24 hours,” Heller said.

Flooded tributaries also caused Mariaville Lake to reach flood stage. The Mariaville Civic Association opened the lake’s dam in order to reduce its level.

“This is the highest it’s been,” said Sue Weakley, the civic association’s president and a 26-year resident of the lake. “But our dam is doing just what it’s supposed to do.”

Flood damage also extended to Saratoga County, where the town of Charlton suffered the brunt. Emergency officials evacuated three families from the area known as “Little Troy” and closed Route 147 after a section of the road washed out.

West Charlton Fire Chief Craig Jones said the washout happened after the Alplaus stream overflowed its banks late Wednesday. He said state DOT workers were able to temporarily fill the washed-out portion of the road’s shoulder.