Trees down, power out

Storm causes real mess throughout area Warwick — “It was crazy out there yesterday,” Jeff Feagles, commissioner of the Town of Warwick’s Department of Public Works department, said Thursday morning, referring to the storm that started early Tuesday afternoon and lasted into the night on Wednesday. “It was bad,” Feagles noted. “It was one of the worst storms in a long time. Temps never went up like the weatherman said. It stayed around 31 degrees. The rain just turned to ice.” And that caused lots of power outages and fallen trees. Feagles said the Pine Island area was probably hit the hardest. Trees were down throughout the area, including on Little York and Little Brooklyn Roads where DPW crews had to close a lane to clear a small flood. One lane was also closed on State School Road and Brady Road for downed trees. George Torres, who works at The Harvest Luncheonette in Pine Island, said they had no power from 7:30 a.m. until noon on Wednesday. Power outages were reported throughout the town, from Bellvale to Pine Island There was some flooding; the Greenwood Lake area was hit hardest with that, Feagles said. But he noted that the water pretty much flowed well through the culverts. “We’ve been replacing culverts throughout the town for the past five years,” he said. “That certainly helped. We had to open a culvert pipe on Old Ridge, but otherwise, we were in pretty good shape.” Feagles expected his department to be out through Friday, cutting up trees and chipping brush along the roads. As of press time, some wires were still down and Orange & Rockland was out in force. “It was crazy. The storm lasted 28 hours, but these guys never complained,” said Feagles. “We’re getting some sunshine today and Friday, and that will help.”