Dutchess recovering from storm, travel restrictions lifted

Jack Howland Nina Schutzman
Poughkeepsie Journal
A downed tree and a utility pole block off Wheeler Hill Road in Wappingers Falls on Tuesday.

The mid-Hudson Valley is recovering Wednesday from severe thunderstorms and wind that wreaked havoc on travel, downed trees and knocked out power for thousands.

Travel restrictions issued for parts of southern Dutchess County were lifted at 4 a.m., according to a statement from County Executive Marc Molinaro's office.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Nearly 30,000 without power; southern Dutchess schools closed

Tractor-trailers crash on Thruway, resulting in serious injury

The county issued travel restrictions effective at 6 p.m. Tuesday for Beacon, Fishkill and Wappingers Falls, not long after a storm with wind gusts of up to 60 mph blew across the region from the east.

“It has been a long night for many in Dutchess County, particularly highway crews, 911 operators, utility workers and emergency responders, dealing with the impacts of this severe storm," Molinaro said. "There still significant issues on roadways in the southern Dutchess area between Route 9 and Route 9D, so motorists should avoid these areas for the morning commute.”

More than 35,000 Dutchess and Ulster county residents lost power Tuesday following a storm that brought heavy rain and winds that gusted up to 60 mph.

“It was quite explosive,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ingrid Amberger, noting reports of trees coming down on cars and houses. “They were very powerful storms that moved very quickly.”

Officials from Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. said efforts to restore power to the region are expected to continue into Thursday, if not longer.

Although travel restrictions are lifted, "motorists are advised to avoid the Route 9D area from Old Hopewell Road in Wappinger to I-84 in Fishkill, as well as connecting roadways over to Route 9," according to the county. "Multiple traffic signals are not functioning on Route 9 from Alpine Commons in Wappinger down to Route 84, including the intersection at Route 52 and at Route 84. Avoid the area of Route 52 and Red School House Road in Fishkill."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a state of emergency for Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and Sullivan counties Tuesday night, deploying 125 members of the New York National Guard to assist in recovery.

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross is providing shelter at the Fishkill Town Hall, located on Route 52 in Fishkill, for people whose homes have been structurally impacted by the storm. Red Cross will provide centralized case management to affected families at that location. 

In nearby Orange County, City of Newburgh police announced that an 11-year-old girl was killed Tuesday.

The girl and "her mother had arrived home and were unloading the car when the wind caused a large tree to topple onto the vehicle," police said in a statement. The girl "was extricated from the vehicle by the fire department and transported to St. Luke’s hospital where she was pronounced dead. The mother suffered minor injuries."

The girl's identity is being withheld and no further information will be released at this time, police said, but the Newburgh school district was notified of her death.

She's the second Hudson Valley child this year to be killed in such a manner. In early March, an 11-year-old Putnam County boy was killed when a tree crashed through a house and crushed him during a nor’easter.

On Tuesday, parts of Ulster County were under a tornado warning until 3:30 p.m., and much of Dutchess was under a tornado warning until 4:45 p.m., though both were lifted without any reports of funnel clouds touching down. One tornado was confirmed for Sullivan County, according to the National Weather Service in Albany.

Metro-North Railroad suspended service on the Hudson and Harlem lines due to downed trees, and service remained impacted overnight.

Light rain is forecast for Dutchess after 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the weather service, with a high temperature near 66 degrees.

Several Dutchess County roads were closed, and traffic on some major roads, including I-84 and Route 9, slowed to a halt. Route 9D in Wappingers Falls was closed for several hours.

Capt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office told the Journal police were responding to road closures and downed trees in Southern Dutchess which, “appears to be the hardest hit by the storm.”

There were 21,351 Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. customers in Dutchess out of 118,295 total customers without power as of 1:30 a.m., and 4,382 out of 88,881 Ulster customers, according to the company's online outage map. The company said a crew of more than 300 workers were trying to address the outages.

“Most of the damage was reported in the western and southern portions of our service area, including Ulster, Orange, Putnam and southern Dutchess counties,” Central Hudson Senior Vice President of Customer Services and Transmission & Distribition Charles A. Freni said in the release.

Among 15,621 New York State Electric & Gas Corp. customers in Dutchess, 2,645 were without power as of 1:30 a.m., as were 2,168 of 5,348 Ulster customers.

Village of Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander, drove around the region at around 5:45 p.m., spotting downed trees and limbs.

“It was a major wind event,” Alexander said, noting the storm looked “ominous” while it was happening.

“I’m from Alabama,” he said, and it “looked like tornado weather.”

Downed trees impacted Metro-North's service on the Hudson and Harlem lines.

The Hudson line is only operating between Grand Central and Croton Harmon, with limited service to Peekskill, because of several fallen trees along the train line north of Croton. Shuttles are taking people from Croton to Peekskill, where buses should be waiting to take commuters north up to and including Poughkeepsie, according to the MTA. 

There's a similar situation for the Harlem line. Service between Grand Central and Mount Kisco has resumed, but there are downed trees north of Mount Kisco. Buses are expected to be available out of Mount Kisco to take commuters to Southeast, the MTA said. 

Jack Howland: jhowland@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4870; Twitter: @jhowl04