Severe Weather Hits Hard
August 23, 2009
August 23, 2009
A strong thunderstorm the afternoon of August 21, 2009 caused headaches for motorists, homeowners and emergency responders in Columbia County – with the Town of Claverack taking the brunt of it. The first call for A.B. Shaw came in at 3:17 pm, a transformer fire on Route 23B just west of Webb Rd. The minutes that followed would be fast and furious.
1st Assistant Chief Mike Cozzolino was quickly diverted from the transformer fire to a higher priority call - a report of a tree and wires down on an occupied vehicle on Route 9H/23 near Schoolhouse Rd in the south-end of town. As Cozzolino redirected his response, he made a radio report to the 911 Center advising them “we have severe storm conditions here… visibility is zero”. Enroute to the 9H/23 and Schoolhouse Rd incident, Cozzolino encountered trees and power poles down that blocked his path. One tree came down on an occupied vehicle at the Route 9H/23 and Apple Ln intersection.
With the south-end of town now cut off Chief Brennan Keeler (himself enroute to a report of a motorcyclist trapped beneath trees and wires on Route 23 near Van Wyck Ln) requested Greenport Fire Department Station #2 (Becraft) to cover the Route 9H/23 and Schoolhouse Rd call. He also ordered all available manpower from A.B. Shaw to report for storm duty and Greenport Station #1, Churchtown Fire Company and Mellenville Fire Company to staff their stations and await assignments.
Trees and power poles would soon block all major routes in and out of the hamlet (Route 23B, Route 9H, Route 23 and Route 9H/23 were all closed for an extended period of time).
A Command Post was established at the Claverack Station to begin organizing, prioritizing and responding to the numerous requests for service. Trees down on houses on Van Wyck Ln, a subject trapped in a mobile home on Stone Mill Rd, trees through a roof on Route 23B, wires and transformers burning in multiple locations… the scope of the operation quickly became apparent. Chief Keeler requested representatives from NYS DOT, County Highway, Claverack Highway, New York State Police and the Columbia County Sheriffs Office to report to the Unified Command Post. Also present were representatives of the County Fire Coordinators Office, EMS Coordinators Office, Emergency Management, National Grid Power Company and Town of Claverack Supervisor Jim Keegan.
As work began at the Claverack Command Post county officials activated their Emergency Operations Center (at the Public Safety Building) to support the Claverack operation. A State of Emergency was declared at 4:30 pm for the Town of Claverack, advising residents to avoid all unnecessary travel.
The unified response and extraordinary team work by all of the agencies involved helped mitigate the storms affects in short order. Volunteers from A.B. Shaw would work through the night manning traffic control points and responding to storm related calls as they presented. A good portion of the hamlet would remain without power for more than 24 hours, but amazingly no serious injuries were reported.
1st Assistant Chief Mike Cozzolino was quickly diverted from the transformer fire to a higher priority call - a report of a tree and wires down on an occupied vehicle on Route 9H/23 near Schoolhouse Rd in the south-end of town. As Cozzolino redirected his response, he made a radio report to the 911 Center advising them “we have severe storm conditions here… visibility is zero”. Enroute to the 9H/23 and Schoolhouse Rd incident, Cozzolino encountered trees and power poles down that blocked his path. One tree came down on an occupied vehicle at the Route 9H/23 and Apple Ln intersection.
With the south-end of town now cut off Chief Brennan Keeler (himself enroute to a report of a motorcyclist trapped beneath trees and wires on Route 23 near Van Wyck Ln) requested Greenport Fire Department Station #2 (Becraft) to cover the Route 9H/23 and Schoolhouse Rd call. He also ordered all available manpower from A.B. Shaw to report for storm duty and Greenport Station #1, Churchtown Fire Company and Mellenville Fire Company to staff their stations and await assignments.
Trees and power poles would soon block all major routes in and out of the hamlet (Route 23B, Route 9H, Route 23 and Route 9H/23 were all closed for an extended period of time).
A Command Post was established at the Claverack Station to begin organizing, prioritizing and responding to the numerous requests for service. Trees down on houses on Van Wyck Ln, a subject trapped in a mobile home on Stone Mill Rd, trees through a roof on Route 23B, wires and transformers burning in multiple locations… the scope of the operation quickly became apparent. Chief Keeler requested representatives from NYS DOT, County Highway, Claverack Highway, New York State Police and the Columbia County Sheriffs Office to report to the Unified Command Post. Also present were representatives of the County Fire Coordinators Office, EMS Coordinators Office, Emergency Management, National Grid Power Company and Town of Claverack Supervisor Jim Keegan.
As work began at the Claverack Command Post county officials activated their Emergency Operations Center (at the Public Safety Building) to support the Claverack operation. A State of Emergency was declared at 4:30 pm for the Town of Claverack, advising residents to avoid all unnecessary travel.
The unified response and extraordinary team work by all of the agencies involved helped mitigate the storms affects in short order. Volunteers from A.B. Shaw would work through the night manning traffic control points and responding to storm related calls as they presented. A good portion of the hamlet would remain without power for more than 24 hours, but amazingly no serious injuries were reported.