Rochester, NY - Ike Winds downs trees, knocks out power

By Rikki Van Camp

After a night of high winds and poor sleep, residents woke up this morning to find more yard work ahead. A willow limb came down in this Buffalo Street yard. In Palmyra, a 200-year-old tree fell on a house.

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Did you hear the winds last night? At one point I thought that someone was trying to kick in my window air conditioner. When I checked no one was there, but tree branches were laying on the ground. Apparently one flew at my A/C. It scared the living day lights out of me.

Come to find out it was the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Yes, all the way in upstate New York! "wind speeds reached 60 miles an hour." "More than 63,100 people in the Rochester area this morning were without power after the remnants of Tropical Storm Ike whipped through the region early today"...Across the area, downed and sparking power lines, flaming transformers and trees blocking roadways caused headaches for residents and emergency crews alike...The county 911 center fielded well over 200 calls between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., an amount usually reserved for blizzards and ice storms, said Sheriff Phil Povero...In Monroe County, PittsfordMendon High School and Northwood Elementary School in Hilton were closed today as a result of the storm." At lest four other schools had two hour delays.

"A lot of people lost power overnight but the town of Palmyra lost a part of its history. A 200-year-old tree crashed into a farmhouse that once belonged to one of the town's founding residents." "Winds knocked down several large trees, including a historic 120-year-old, 150-foot-tall Northern Red Oak, at Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua early today."

As for me I'm fine. My power never went out, but the T.V. reception went out now and then. I can't believe this was the remnants of Hurricane Ike. It's days like today that I'm glad that I live in Rochester. The worse that we get is an occasional Blizzard, or Ice Storm. Your power might go out, you might be stranded at home for several days, but normally your life and property are safe.

OF SPECIAL NOTE, several large trees and power lines are blocking parts of Scottsville Road and other nearby streets in Scottsville and Chili Center. There are also several reports of similar scenes in the Pittsford and Perinton and the Mendon, Fishers area. Also"RG&E workers are handing out bottled water and dry ice to any customers without power at 195 Muchroom Blvd., in Henrietta until 10 pm Monday night, and again from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday."



Folks please give to the Red Cross if you can. They are there to help during emergencies. Currently 55 volunteers from Rochester, N.Y. are in Tyler Texas helping out with hurricane efforts. Also 4,000 Red Cross volunteers are helping out nation wide. Red Cross funds are down due to recent hurricanes.

Rochester & Finger lakes donations phone 585-241-441 or Rochester Red Cross website

And national Red Cross website.


Main source & photo MPN now.com

You can read more...
Democrat and Chronicle.com Winds knock out power to over 63,000
13wham: RG&E Hands Out Water, Dry Ice - 23,000 Still Without Power
High Winds for Ike Sweep Rochester Area
13wham: High Winds from Ike Sweep Rochester Area
13wham: Wind storm destroys part of Palmyra history

Severe Thunderstorm Slam Rochester Area Now

Several severe thunderstorm are hitting the Rochester NY, Monroe county area. We had 60 MPH winds in Geneva for example. Some areas had Tornado watches, large hail, trees down. One woman on the news said, "My tress just fell like matchsticks." Thousands in the area lost power. Syracuse got hit badly too with 30,000? losing power. The worst is over for Rochester, but not some surrounding areas.

Basically now west of Rochester looks good except for East Lockport. But another round of storms are due to hit East and South of Rochester including Wayne, Ontario, Yates, and Penn Yam counties. Dansville, Wayland, and Naples are being hit now. The storm could include large hail, strong winds, downed trees, and loss of power.

The good news is that it cooled off the area. We went from 86 degrees to 72 in no time. Finally relief after several days of 90ish degree weather. It's odd to turn off the A/C after it has been on non stop for days.


Get the latest including a slid show at 13WHAM

For more about the first storm - Democrat & Chronicle
"The first storm swept through the area midmorning. That fast-moving storm included about 10 minutes of heavy rain, whipping winds, frequent lightening and small penny-sized hail. Winds were recorded in excess of 60 mph. At peak, about 8,100 properties in the region were in the dark." Several schools were closed....

Windstorm Rips Through Rochester and Buffalo Closing Thruway

Rochester got slammed today with high winds, and damage. It started at 5:30 A.M with rain, then sleet, and snow. We didn't get much snow, but it was a slippery mixture, and white outs. Temperatures plunged 20 degrees. Winds up to 72 mph. Unlike the brief windstorm that hit 3 weeks ago this has been an all day event. Buffalo got the brunt of it, see links below.

* A 55 Mile section of the Thruway has been closed from Henrietta to Buffalo due to icy roads, and "white outs".

* Nearly 17,000 without power in Rochester.

* Two-dozen of outlying schools are closed or delayed.

* Many accidents have been reported.

* Debris - downed trees and limbs, downed wires.

* Some streets close down.

* 15 foot waves on Lake Ontario.

Buffalo got hit harder then Rochester- Floods occurred, Most schools closed, 70,000 without power, down trees and much more. See link below.

The Buffalo News

Democrat and Chronicle News

NYS Thruway Closes

Tips for Winter Power Outages

The following is from ... WHAM.com
Photo is of some recent damage due to the Windstorm.

Rochester, N.Y. - The Red Cross offers helpful advice from years of experience dealing with calamaties.

When power goes out

1. Don’t use candles.
2. Use only a flashlight.
3. Turn off electrical equipment you were using when power went out.
4. Do NOT run a generator inside a home or garage.
5. If you do use a generator, connect items that need power directly to the outlets on the generator. Do not connect a generator to a home’s electrical system.

General cold weather tips

1. Mittens are warmer than gloves.
2. Wear a hat.
3. Hypothermia can be serious. Signs are confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering. Get medical attention immediately.
4. Get out of any wet clothes immediately and warm the body core temperature with a blanket or warm fluids.

Windstorm Pounds Rochester NY- 75 mph

The windstorm was so server that many thought it was a tornado. It was official the 3rd worst windstorm in Rochester history. Up to 75 mph winds. It hit around 5:00 this morning bring down wires, poles, trees, and roof, leaving about 33,000 RG&E customers without power. Some may not have power restored until Sunday. Airport officials pulled the air traffic controllers out of the airport tower for 15 minutes due to high winds.There were several cancellations and delays with flights. The Red Cross has opened up several shelters in the area. The west side of Monroe County appears hardest hit with damage stretching through Gates, Chili, Greece, Pittsford, Penfield and Southeast Rochester, and down through Geneseo and Mt. Morris. Many traffic accidents accrued. 1 death due to a car crash because some traffic lights were disabled.

I was lucky my power remained on.

You can read more, including a slide show at- 13 WHAM TV