CHENANGO
COUNTY
–
On
Saturday,
July
18
the
National
Weather
Service
issued
a
Severe
Thunderstorm
Watch.
What
followed
were
high
winds,
rain,
and
lightning,
causing
damage
and
creating
power
outages
across
the
county.
Countless
reports
of
down
trees
and
severe
property
damage
were
seen
across
social
media.
According
to
the
George
Hunstmeyer
from
Chenango
County
Office
of
Emergency
Services
(OES)
in
just
a
four
hour
window
96
emergency
911
calls
were
received
across
the
county.
“We
had
multiple
agencies
responding
from
fire
departments,
DPW’s
and
highway
departments,”
he
said.
Luckily,
no
deaths
or
injuries
have
been
reported.
Most
roads
were
closed
are
now
open
except
for
one
in
McDonough
according
to
Huntsmeyer.
“The
two
biggest
areas
that
got
a
lot
of
damage
were
around
the
City
of
Norwich
area,
and
the
southern
tip
of
Chenango
County
around
Afton
and
Greene,”
said
Huntsmeyer.
The
City
of
Norwich
was
hit
particularly
hard
by
the
storm,
with
officials
issuing
a
travel
advisory
for
residents
due
to
the
damage
caused.
Story Continues Below Adverts
City
of
Norwich
Mayor
Robert
Jeffrey
said,
“After
the
storm
finished
up,
we
immediately
declared
a
travel
advisory.
We
wanted
the
city’s
department
of
public
works,
police
department,
fire
department,
as
well
as
other
agencies
like
NYSEG
to
be
able
to
operate
within
the
city’s
confines
without
additional
traffic.”
Safety
was
a
major
concern
for
the
city
as
they
responded
to
concerns.
According
to
Jeffrey
the
Norwich
fire
department
responded
to
over
30
calls
related
to
the
storm.
There
were
multiple
power
lines
down
and
trees
fallen
on
property
in
several
different
areas
of
the
city.
“The
city
operated
as
effectively
and
efficiently
as
it
could.
We
were
prepared.
We
had
launched
our
incident
command.
We
had
a
firehouse.
We
had
our
emergency
management
personnel,
Bill
Edwards,”
said
Jeffrey
who
credits
the
city’s
response
to
Edwards
from
the
City
of
Norwich
Emergency
Management
Office.
NYSEG
crew
members
have
been
out
during
and
since
the
storm,
restoring
power
to
the
thousands
that
lost
service
on
Saturday.
At
the
time
of
writing
there
are
still
1330
customers
without
power
in
Chenango
County,
mostly
in
Greene
and
Smithville.
As
fallen
trees
and
debris
remain,
Jeffrey
says
the
City
of
Norwich
will
be
offering
an
extended
storm
cleanup
through
the
Department
of
Public
works
(DPW)
with
more
details
to
be
announced
later
today.
NYSEG
in
it’s
announcements
reminds
residents
to
stay
at
least
30
feet
from
a
downed
power
line.
Huntsmeyer
at
OES
said,
“If
there’s
still
a
hazard
I
would
urge
people
to
call
the
911
dispatch
center
and
they
will
dispatch
the
appropriate
agency
for
that.”