Hurrican Sandy rips through Orange County

WARWICK – Sandy was only classified as a Category-1 hurricane, but left more destruction throughout the area than any storm in recent memory.

On Monday, Oct. 29, Sandy made landfall on the New Jersey shore devastating the barrier islands. “It’s beyond anything I ever thought I would see,” said N.J. Governor Chris Christie.

Here in Orange County, over 200,000 homes were without power and Orange and Rockland (O & R) offered little comfort.

“It could be seven to ten days before power is fully restored,” said O & R spokesman Mike Donovan. “We have 17 substations down along with 27 transmission lines and 100 distribution stations. And we work from transmission outward.”

Donovan reported that O & R had 1,000 employees working to restore power and another 1,000 arriving from other states.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, shops were closed as the southern half of the village of Warwick remained without power.

Other businesses, like Shoprite, who offered customers free coffee and cakes, were able to utilize their generators to provide limited operations.

Traffic was light and moved smoothly, although most traffic signals throughout the area were not operational.

There were some areas that did not experience any power outages, such as the post office and the village hall. However, Warwick Mayor Michael Newhard reported that 75 percent of the village had no power.

“Our main concern,” he said, “was St. Anthony Community Hospital, but O & R has given the Hospital a high priority.”

Newhard explained that the Hospital’s diesel generators provided sufficient electrical power for emergency surgery and other essential services, but not elective procedures.O & R was able to restore full power to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

There were also services down that are not usually lost in severe weather. Both cellular and landline phone services were out most of Tuesday and beyond.

Warwick radio, WTBQ (1110AM and 93.5 FM), was unable to transmit. Manager Frank Truatt closely monitored the weather with the station’s weather station, which recorded wind gusts as high as 58 mph on Monday evening and a barometric pressure low of 28.63.

Warwick’s annual Halloween parade, scheduled for Oct. 31, was cancelled. However, a “trunk or treat” event at the Warwick Valley Middle School parking lot is planned for Saturday, Nov. 3. This will provide an opportunity to parade, win prizes and collect treats, all of which will be stored in volunteers’ automobile trunks.

Although Warwick Town Hall was closed on Tuesday, the Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton spent the day in his office monitoring events and joining in on a lengthy emergency conference call with County Executive Ed Diana, his staff, and the heads of all of the municipalities throughout the county. The good news they were able to cull is that, in spite of the fact that 25 county roads were closed; there were no reported fatalities or injuries.

Problems mentioned included a shortage of fuel, lack of generators and the distribution of dry ice.