No major damages or injuries reported in Orleans from wind storm
Provided photos: This big tree limb fell on Allens Bridge Road in Gaines. The tree is on property owned by Jim and Barb Navarra. Mrs. Navarra said the tree is home to honey bees, and she will miss the smell of their honey on warm days.
The high winds knocked down a tree near a garage at Oak Orchard on the Lake and Archbald Road in Carlton.
Firefighters and utility workers were busy throughout last night, responding to fallen limbs and arcing wires. However, Orleans County was spared major damage from the strong 60 mile per hour winds that roared through the region.
As of 1 p.m. today, there are 646 National Grid customers in the county without power.
“There is damage throughout all 10 towns but nothing major and no one was hurt,” said Dale Banker, the county’s emergency management director. “Every fire department was out last night. They were busy overnight, but it was nothing out of the ordinary you don’t get with a 60 mile per hour wind event.”
The conditions are more severe in other parts of the state. Gov. Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for 11 counties – Cayuga, Chautauqua, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Saratoga and Warren.
Heavy rains and high winds have caused flooding and power outages throughout most of the state. This extreme weather has caused nearly 60 roads closures across the state and has left more than 241,000 buildings or homes without power, Cuomo said.
The governor is deploying 200 members of the National Guard to assist localities with response and clean-up operations. The soldiers and airmen will be deployed over the next 24 hours and will be equipped with bobcats, dump trucks and front-end loaders to assist with clearing debris.
