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County emerges blanketed but unscathed from blizzard

Dan Hust - Staff Writer
Posted 3/17/17

SULLIVAN COUNTY — It's too early in the 21st century to call Tuesday's blizzard the “storm of the century,” but multiple reports - both amateur and professional - indicate this might be one for …

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County emerges blanketed but unscathed from blizzard

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SULLIVAN COUNTY — It's too early in the 21st century to call Tuesday's blizzard the “storm of the century,” but multiple reports - both amateur and professional - indicate this might be one for the record books.

The National Weather Service (NWS), in fact, confirmed a record was set at its office at the Binghamton Airport, where 31.3 inches of snow fell in less than 24 hours. That bests the previous record, set in February 1961 when 23 inches fell within 24 hours.

Binghamton is actually neck-and-neck with Syracuse for total snowfall so far this season - both at 127 inches, even though Syracuse is far more prone to lake-effect snow.

Sullivan County, meanwhile, registered between one and two feet of snow from Tuesday's storm, according to the NWS. Spotters reported to the NWS a 24-hour snowfall of 12.2 inches in Rock Hill, 15.5 in Long Eddy and 24 in Wurtsboro.

However, those tallies cover only part of the blizzard, which started around midnight Monday, then continued into Wednesday. Local reports on social media and from residents indicated close to three feet of snow fell in the Narrowsburg, Jeffersonville and Roscoe areas, with at least two feet throughout all of Sullivan County.

(The NWS did not provide storm totals for Sullivan County as of yesterday.)

“It seems that the entire county got hit to the same relative degree,” confirmed Sullivan County Manager Josh Potosek. “Upwards of 30 inches seemed to be the norm across the county.”

That kept road crews busy all week long.

“Staff plows 188 miles of road inclusive of a portion of State Route 97 that DPW plows under contract for NYS,” Sullivan County Public Works Commissioner Ed McAndrew affirmed, adding that doesn't include the parking lots and roads for county offices scattered around the region, along with the college.

“Staff started assessing roads at 1 a.m. the night the snow started and had all trucks on the road shortly thereafter,” he said. “DPW did not stop plowing at all during this event and rotated in staff to keep the trucks running.”

Utility crews had a fair amount to do, as well.

Melany F. Putman, NYSEG's Manager of Community Outreach & Development for the East Region, reported that “about 5,500 NYSEG Liberty Division customers in Sullivan County were affected throughout Winter Storm Stella.”

Less than 500 of those were of significant duration, and NYSEG completed the repairs by Wednesday afternoon.

According to spokesperson Mike Donovan, Orange and Rockland had an easier go of it, at least in Sullivan County, where 12 customers in Bloomingburg were affected by loss of power.

Central Hudson, which supplies only the Town of Neversink, reported no power outages due to the storm according to spokesperson John Maserjian.

Emergency responders weren't off-duty either, being some of the only people legally allowed on area roadways after Potosek declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.

“We did schedule additional dispatch staff in anticipation of the storm,” related E-911 Coordinator Alex Rau. “Thankfully, we did not see any significant increase in call volume, with only a handful of minor motor vehicle accidents reported - mostly cars stuck in ditches.

“We were also fortunate to only have a few brief and isolated power outages during the storm, and I give our NYSEG crews credit for a quick restoration given the blizzard conditions.”

“People listened to the state of emergency and stayed home, so highway workers and emergency responders could get to where they needed to go,” confirmed a grateful Sullivan County Fire Coordinator John Hauschild.

“I was in contact with all the fire chiefs in Sullivan County ... keeping them briefed on the weather situation and what was going on,” he explained.

Except for wires down, an oven fire, a few minor accidents and a major house fire in Woodbourne, the blizzard didn't force firefighters out into the cold too often.

“Everybody was prepared and had enough notice,” Hauschild said. “Everyone worked well together.”

Amen to that, added McAndrew.

“I would like to commend all of the staff in SCDPW for the efforts they put in during this major snowfall,” he remarked on Wednesday. “These employees were out ensuring the roads were safe for the travelling public, and most still had to address the snow piling up at their own homes when they got a break from work.

“I would also like to extend my thanks to all of the state, town and village personnel who likewise spent several long days clearing snow - and this work is not over yet.”

Sheriff Mike Schiff echoed those thoughts.

“I would like to send a very big THANK YOU to all of our state, county, town and village DPW/DOT workers,” he remarked. “You worked extremely hard on Tuesday, under hazardous conditions, to keep our roads open during the blizzard. Without you, our police, fire and EMS would not have been able to respond to emergencies. You guys and gals did an amazing job! Thank you for your dedication.”

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