Severe storms brought heavy water, damaging winds throughout county

Photo courtesy of Orleans County Emergency Management Office: A car is stuck in the flood at Medina Central School on Wednesday night.

Press Release, Orleans County Emergency Management Agency

ALBION – Orleans County was struck by two separate rounds of severe weather on Wednesday, resulting in widespread power outages, flooded roadways, downed trees and power lines, and storm damage in every town and village in the county.

Ground across most of the county was already saturated prior to Wednesday morning’s rain event. The morning storms brought heavy rain and damaging winds, downing trees and power lines across the county.

The rainfall pushed many small streams and ditches beyond their banks or to near capacity and produced widespread power outages affecting approximately 2,150 National Grid customers. Restoration work continued through the day, but 476 of those customers were still without power when the second round of storms arrived Wednesday evening.

A second, more significant storm system moved through the county Wednesday evening, bringing additional heavy rainfall and strong winds. The evening storms produced additional downed trees and power lines, renewed flooding of roadways, and flooded basements across the county.

Radar data indicates a possible tornado touched down in the Town of Shelby, south of Route 31A in the area of Salt Works Road and Martin Road. The Orleans County Emergency Management Office will work with the National Weather Service on Thursday to confirm whether a tornado occurred.

Rainfall:

The New York State Mesonet station at the Orleans County Fairgrounds recorded 3 inches of rain over the course of the day. Storm totals across the county generally ranged from 2 to 3 inches, with radar estimates as high as 3.5 inches in the heaviest areas by 10:25 p.m. Wednesday.

Orleans County remains under a Flood Warning issued by the National Weather Service in Buffalo, currently in effect until 11:15 a.m. Thursday. All remaining severe thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings for the county have expired or been cancelled.

Power Outages and Response:

The evening storm caused a new wave of outages. At its peak, National Grid reported 2,239 customers without power.

While no town or village escaped the storms’ impact, the bulk of the damage and response work has been concentrated on the west side of the county and in the Towns of Albion and Gaines. County and town highway crews and fire departments continue to work throughout the county on debris removal, monitoring flooded roadways, traffic control at downed power lines, and pumping of flooded basements.

The Village of Medina has been hit the hardest by flooding. The Medina Fire Department is being assisted by the Orleans County Emergency Management Office, the Village of Medina Department of Public Works, the Murray Joint Fire District, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company, and the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, all of whom are on scene pumping flood waters from basements.

“We want to thank the Orleans County 9-1-1 Communications Center for their efforts today. Dispatchers were at times inundated with calls and handled the volume professionally throughout both events,” said Justin Niederhofer, Orleans County Director of Emergency Management and County Fire Coordinator. “National Grid has also been vital to this response. Despite the call volume and the weather conditions, their crews responded as quickly as possible to make scenes safe so our first responders could do their work. Getting them to downed lines quickly allowed our highway and fire crews to clear those roads and reopen them, which kept routes available for responding to other emergencies across the county. They continue to work to restore power.”

The Emergency Management Office expects to compile accurate totals of incidents, damage, and response activity by the end of the week, once reports have been gathered from the 9-1-1 Communications Center and the county’s fire agencies.

Public Safety Reminders:

Residents are reminded to:

• Never drive through flooded roadways. Turn around, don’t drown. Water depth and road condition cannot be judged from a vehicle.
• Treat every downed power line as live. Stay away and report it to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222, or call 9-1-1 if it presents an immediate hazard.
• Report outages to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or through the National Grid outage map.
• Use generators safely. Operate generators outdoors only, well away from windows and doors, to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Reserve 9-1-1 for emergencies. Non-emergency questions should be directed to the appropriate town or village office, or to the Emergency Management Office during business hours

A tornado warning is in effect for Orleans, Niagara and Genesee counties until 7 p.m.

The National Weather Service said the affected areas include east central Niagara County, Orleans County and northwestern Genesee County.

“At 6:28 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Middleport, or near Medina, moving southeast at 35 mph,” the Weather Service said.

Locations impacted include Medina, Albion, Middleport, Oakfield, Holley, Ridgeway, Shelby, Clarendon, Gaines and Alabama.

“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the Weather Service said. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur.  Tree damage is likely.”

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Orleans County, Western New York and much of upstate until 11 p.m.

“Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms with periods of heavy rainfall are expected today through tonight,” the Weather Service said. “Some storms may be severe with damaging wind gusts and hail, respectively. A tornado or two and localized flash flooding are possible.”

Kimberly Stawicki sent in this photo of the storm clouds descending on the area.

Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke

During this morning’s severe weather event, the Orleans County 911 Center experienced a significant surge in emergency and non-emergency activity. Between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., dispatchers handled a total of 159 telephone calls — an average of 53 calls per hour, or approximately one call every 68 seconds.

During that same three-hour period, the Communications Center documented 57 dispatched incidents involving law enforcement, fire departments and emergency medical services. Many of these incidents were weather-related, including numerous reports of trees and utility wires down throughout the county.

Of the 57 dispatched incidents, 42 involved either downed trees or electrical/power hazards. These two categories accounted for nearly 74% of all incidents dispatched during the period. The incident log also reflects EMS calls, fire-related calls, law-enforcement service calls and other public-safety matters occurring while the storm response was underway.

In addition to the incidents documented through the Orleans County 911 Center, local fire departments and highway departments responded to and handled numerous additional storm-related conditions throughout the county

Residents are reminded to use caution around downed trees and utility lines and to report immediate hazards.

Storm could bring golf ball-size hail, 70 mph wind gusts

Photo courtesy of Robyn Ottaviano: It was a dramatic red sky on Lake Ontario this morning at sunrise. It’s the calm before the storm. “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning!” Ottaviano said.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:15 a.m. for Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Niagara, Monroe and Erie counties.

“Severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 12 miles west of Lakeside Beach State Park to near Newfane to near Sanborn, moving southeast at 45 miles per hour,” the National Weather Service said.

The storm could bring golf ball-size hail and 70 mile per hour wind gusts, the Weather Service said.

“People and animals outdoors will be injured,” the NWS said. “Expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows and vehicles. Expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs and outbuildings.”

The Weather Service said to remain alert for a possible tornado.

“Tornadoes can develop quickly from severe thunderstorms,” the Weather Service said. “If you spot a tornado go at once into the basement or small central room in a sturdy structure.”