Ice Storm Pounds New York 23,000 Without Power

Описание: The response to ice storm 2013 was underway Sunday afternoon.

Jefferson County was worst hit by the storm, which began in earnest Saturday and got significantly worse overnight. Crews were busy assessing downed power lines and tree limbs, while emergency officials opened shelters.

Check out the Jefferson County Fire & Emergency Management Facebook page for additional information.

As the storm abates, the problem many northern New Yorkers will face is getting heat and power.

States of emergency remain in effect in St. Lawrence, Jefferson counties. Despite that, no major fires or accidents were reported.

At least one person suffered injuries as a result of the storm.

A man was hurt when he was struck by a falling tree.

Emergency shelters were set up Sunday at the Cape Vincent Fire Department (it was being moved from the recreation building), Alexandria Bay Fire Department, Chaumont Fire Department, Dexter American Legion and Brownville Fire Department and the Salvation Army building on State Street in Watertown.

The Red Cross opened a shelter Sunday night at Norwood-Norfolk Central School in Norwood.

Alexandria Bay, Dexter and Brownville fire departments reported a handful of people were using the shelters as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Red Cross was working to open up a shelter in the Watertown High School gym by 5 p.m. Sunday. It will be able to accomodate 100 to 150 people.
At a morning press conference, Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham said city crews have the main roads plowed, and report no major problems.
National Grid's power outage map showed about 18,000 customers without power in Jefferson County at 3:30 p.m. - including 4,000 in Watertown (city and town) - and another 4,000 without electricity in St. Lawrence County.
In addition, Lewis County has about 200 people without power, almost entirely in the Harrisville area.
At about 2:40 p.m. Lewis County lifted its travel advisory.
At 6 p.m., St. Lawrence County will lift its travel restrictions. However, a travel advisory is still recommended and motorists are urged to use caution and be aware of utility and highway workers.
In St. Lawrence County, the outages were scattered from Hammond to Macomb, Pitcain to DeKalb to Rossie.
If you need to report an outage, National Gride's phone number is 800-867-5222.
Andrew McMann of Massena Electric said his utility has received calls about sporadic outages, but is standing by in case more power problems are reported.
Although the north country clearly got the worst of the ice storm, western New York is also affected. 23,000 people were without power in Erie and Niagara counties at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
Earlier...
Listening to the emergency fire and police radios early Sunday, we could hear fire crews and police being called to numerous reports of lines and tree limbs down.
Before 3 a.m., the worst of the storm was along the St. lawrence River and Lake Ontario, in Lyme, Cape Vincent, Clayton, Alexandria. Since 3 a.m., Plummer said, the storm got worse inland - the Watertown area - and to the north of Watertown.
For all of that, there were no major injuries or fatalities reported overnight in Jefferson County.
"We're advising 'shelter in place,'" Plummer said. There is no unnecessary travel in Jefferson County.
In St. lawrence County, deputy emergency services coordinator Jim Chestnut said the county got "mostly rain, snow" overnight."

As a result, "we haven't had tremendous reports" of problems. There were no major accidents or fires reported overnight, Chestnut said.

However, "roads are very

Chestnut also noted there was a problem at a senior citizen apartment complex in Heuvelton, where a heating vent was blocked by snow and ice.
In Cape Vincent, firefighters made plans to evacuate senior citizen housing saturday night as the power went on and off. however, fire department president Joe Gould said the evacuation proved unnecessary.
he said conditions in Cape Vincent were "not pretty" Sunday morning.

Earlier:

Jefferson County's Office of Emergency Management designated a special phone number for non-emergency requests: 315-786-6940.

Governor Cuomo declared a "winter ice storm emergency" for northern New York as well, and said he has "directed state agencies to take all necessary actions to be prepared to respond to the expected icy conditions, and we will actively monitor the storm as it begins to hit the state."

The Alexandria Bay fire department opened up its fire hall to anyone needing shelter Saturday night.