NORWICH – Tropical Storm Ernesto is likely to hit Central New York with heavy rain this weekend. With many people still recovering from the flooding of late June, this new batch of wet weather is not likely to be well received.

Heavy rain on Tuesday caused officials to close portions of state Rt. 12, and had many people wondering if another round of flooding was not far behind. According to City Emergency Management Officer A. Jones, Tuesday’s rain left the ground heavily saturated, and if we receive more than a couple inches this weekend, we might be in trouble.

“It won’t take a tremendous amount more rain to cause a problem,” Jones said.

Although Ernesto hit Florida with less intensity than was expected, heavy rainfall in this area is still a possibility. The Norwich Emergency Operations Center and Mayor Joseph Maiurano are closely monitoring the potential for heavy rainfall, and the National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a special weather statement, saying that rain is likely to reach Central New York by Saturday morning.

“We are at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Maiurano said.