Yorktown Almost Back to Normal, Officials Assessing Damage

Thousands of Yorktown residents remain without power as of Wednesday, . 

The last couple of days have been rough on many Yorktowners, who experienced flooding in their basements, had their  by fallen trees, and went on without electricity for days. Of course there were stories of from their yards and . Officials and utility companies made efforts to distribute dry ice to those in need of preserving their food, but  

Hundreds of residents only to be turned away by Con Edison a few hours into the dry ice distribution. Yorktown officials said additional dry ice supplies were distributed in Yorktown Wednesday morning behind the Triangle Shopping Center, but reminded people that supplies are limited.

The town is still assessing the damage sustained by the storm over the weekend. Supervisor Susan Siegel said the town's bridge consultant will be assessing damage to some of the pending bridge/culvert problems to see if they worsened during the storm. Those include Lexington Avenue, Greenwood Street Bridge, White Hill Road, and Baptist Church Road. The Parks and Recreation Department will also assessing damage to town parks.

"I'm thankful the storm wasn't as severe as it could have been, or as we anticipated, and that there were no personal injuries," Siegel said. "And I want to personally thank all the town employees and volunteers in the fire departments and the ambulance corps for their tireless efforts to help their fellow Yorktowners."

From dealing with down wires, fallen trees, flooded roadways and even a water rescue operation in nearby Croton, Yorktown's emergency personnel and highway department employees worked non-stop through the weekend. 

Firefighters were on call throughout the storm, starting Saturday night. They didn't start receiving emergency calls until early Sunday, but were ready when the time came. 

Yorktown Heights Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Doug Gollogly said firefighters were getting calls about wires and transformers down, as well as about 3 to 4 calls per hour about flooded basements. Yorktown emergency personnel the Croton police and fire departments on a call about five men who plunged into the raging Croton River Sunday while on an inflatable boat. 

The Lake Mohegan Fire Department members also worked around the clock answering about 60 calls from water conditions, pump outs, to trees and wires down. Fire Chief Brian Wolert said his crew was organized and did an excellent job. After the storm ended, firefighters continued to receive calls as residents assessed the storm damage. Some of the highest damaged areas where on Lexington Avenue with numerous trees down, Crompond section had trees and wires down, and the Shrub Oak area had severe flooding.

"Police, fire and highway worked well together identifying the location of downed wires," Siegel said.

The highway department employees have also been working around the clock. Highway Superintendent Eric Dibartolo said that as of this morning at 5:30 a.m. all roads were open and passable. A couple of hundred trees had fallen as a result of the storm, the exact number of which he couldn't give.

"I am pleased no one in the town of Yorktown was hurt," he said adding that he worked closely with the police department, which on occassion provided them with light at night to safely perform their work. "It was a really great combined effort," DiBartolo said. 

The town's biggest concern was opening the roads for emergency vehicles to pass this weekend. Although Hurricane Irene didn't do as much damage as Hurricane Floyd did in 1999, DiBartolo said, he understands the residents' frustration of not having power for this long. He said he has been in touch with Con Ed representatives who have been working in town, but NYSEG has had a slower response and not been returning phone calls. 

This weekend, highway department employees will begin clearing the debris and pushing things aside from the roads. Workers have already begin cutting up the trees in the areas where Con Ed had deactivated the fallen wires, but more work is needed once NYSEG deactivates their wires. 

"The only thing we're asking residents is to be patient," DiBartolo said. He expects it would take three to four weeks until everything is back to normal as far as clearing the roads. "It's been a long haul."

The total damage assessment has not been done yet, but DiBartolo said there was nothing major that was lost. There were a couple of roads that were completely underwater, he said, but none were completely lost.