Storm tears through Coxsackie
Trees, power lines knocked down as National Weather Service searches for answers
Eileen Goble was preparing to set up the Coxsackie Farmers Market on Wednesday afternoon when a fastmoving storm seemingly materialized out of nowhere.
“We were really lucky,” Goble said. “We sat in our cars and rode it out — it was just sustained winds. Port-apotties were flying, tents were flying and the car was shaking.”
Goble estimated the event was over in five minutes. Luckily, she said, the market hadn’t started and only a handful of vendors were on site.
The short but powerful storm Wednesday afternoon knocked huge oldgrowth trees and power lines down in this Greene County village.
Several hundred residents remained without power on Thursday morning, and the village is under a state of emergency until Friday as Central Hudson works to restore power.
Central Hudson said it was aiming to restore power on Thursday but continuing thunderstorms could delay work until Friday, said power company spokesman Joe Jenkins. Overall, 35,000 Central Hudson customers lost power during Wednesday’s severe thunderstorms, including areas in Dutchess and Ulster counties.
As of midafternoon Thursday, an estimated 1,338 village of Coxsackie residents remained without power, and 157 within the town, according to Central Hudson.
Crews from neighboring towns are assisting Coxsackie with tree and limb removal, said village Mayor Mark Evans.
“There are some streets cut off and closed, so we can’t assess the extent of damage,” Evans said Thursday morn
ing. “I estimate there to be about 100 very large trees down.”
New Street, South River Street, Ely Street, Riverside Avenue and Green Bedell Street remained closed as of late Thursday morning, and Evans hopes they can be reopened later Thursday as tree removal services and crews clear the damage, including feeding downed limbs and trees through wood chippers.
Evans asked residents to avoid the area of Washington and Lafayette and all areas east to the river until Friday afternoon to allow Central Hudson to complete its work.
Dangling limbs and wires continue to present safety risks, Evans said.
Trees are down all over the village, including a giant oak that toppled at the corner of Washington and Lafayette. Michael Oathout was at school at the time. “The doors were rattling and we knew something serious was coming through,” he said.
Mack’s Tree Service received 80 calls for service so far, with 10 falling on structures, said owner Devon Mack.
Brush and limbs remained in the streets Thursday, with residents cutting logs and stacking them along the roadside.
The National Weather Service remained on site Thursday to assess damage and try to determine what weather event happened. The village initially thought it was a tornado. The Weather Service noted that there were many areas south of Albany that reported damage after severe thunderstorms moved through Wednesday late afternoon.
“They did check the radar and saw a very unusual weather event,” Evans said. “We obviously knew there was a storm coming, but it did intensify very rapidly. When it hit, it just lasted several minutes.” It appears there was no one injured in the storm.
Crews from neighboring towns and villages responded Wednesday to assist with clearing roads so emergency crews could get through.
Greene County sheriff deputies and State Police will also patrol the village Thursday night as power remains out.
Evans said it will take several days to remove trees that have blocked roads.
“I just know whatever it is I don’t want to go through anything like that again. Please be safe,” Evans said.