Posted on 07/23/2003 6:16:16 AM PDT by NYer
Meteorologists confirmed Tuesday it was tornadoes with winds over 100 mph that leveled homes, trees and power lines in Catskill and Schodack Monday night when a furious thunderstorm carved a path of destruction from Ulster County to Bennington, Vt.
Utility companies restored electricity to about half the 63,000 customers who lost service -- primarily in Greene, Columbia and Rensselaer counties -- but some remote places might not get their power back until Thursday.
"It's a miracle" no one was killed, said Greene County Sheriff Richard Hussey, who estimated that 30 homes and barns were damaged. Losses in that county are expected to exceed $1 million, he said.
It was the most severe wreckage from a tornado in the Capital Region since May 31, 1998, when dozens of homes and businesses were wrecked in Mechanicville, Stillwater and Schaghticoke.
Monday's twisters "covered a small portion of our area, but their path can be devastating," said National Weather Service meteorologist Kenneth LaPenta. The "super-cell" storm hit as the sun was setting, preventing many residents from grasping the full scope of the damage until Tuesday morning.
The worst damage was in the town of Catskill, where a tornado rated F2 on the Fujita-Pearson Scale touched down east of the Catskill Mountains. The twister -- packing winds between 113 mph and 157 mph -- cut a 50-yard-wide, half-mile-long swath of collapsed trees in Palenville before hitting a campground on Route 32 in the hamlet of Kiskatom about a half-mile north of the Friar Tuck Inn.
A funnel cloud cut a 150-yard-wide path through the Brookside Campground around 8:20 p.m., destroying owner Alan Leombruno's mechanic's shop, lifting Joan Lowden's mobile home off its cement pilings and tossing it dozens of feet away with the 68-year-old woman still inside.
Lowden was in serious condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital Tuesday with back injuries.
"There is not a part on her that is not black and blue," said her son, George Lowden, as he picked through the wreckage. She would have died but for "the grace of God," he said.
Lowden, whose husband recently died, was the most severely injured among the seven people hurt when the storm ripped east across Greene County. Others suffered cuts and bruises from flying debris, Hussey said.
Marilyn O'Dell, who lives in an apartment next to the campground, said she feels lucky to have escaped unscathed. "Thank God, me and my children were away," she said as she and her 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son talked about the wind that tore paintings off the walls and sent an air conditioner flying out the window.
LaPenta said a survey team documented that a twister -- rated F1, with winds between 73 mph and 112 mph -- came down in southern Rensselaer County.
At about 8:50 p.m., it moved through the village of Nassau into Schodack south of Nassau Lake. Worst hit was a three-block area south of Route 20 along McClellan Road and Park Avenue. Oak and maple trees were toppled in front yards, while hanging flower baskets on porches across the street were untouched.
Shirley W. Smith had to be taken out of her home by neighbors after half the roof was torn off and a downed oak blocked her front entrance. Later, state and county emergency management officials condemned the house. Smith, whose husband, Glenn Hayes Smith, died two weeks ago, must now find another place to live.
"The poor woman. They found her crying in the cellar all by herself," said a friend who did not want to give her name. "They haven't even found where her roof is yet."
At the Agway on Route 20, the store's roof was blown off and a gazebo landed across the state highway in a pile of splintered wood. Neighbors returned merchandise and fixtures, which were blown up to 2 miles away, manager Mark Gardner said.
One lane of Route 20 was closed for several hours as workers removed fallen trees near the bridge across the Valatie Kill.
Schodack Supervisor Eileen Natoli said the town would be working with the state and county to get crews with wood chippers in the field. In addition, 12 inmates from the county jail were helping with the cleanup that is likely to take several days.
Weather Service officials Tuesday also determined that Bennington County was hit by a moderate tornado that caused some area residents to lose power.
That tornado, which was rated an F1, touched down in North Pownal Monday evening and moved north, cutting a 7-mile swath that was between 50 and 150 yards wide.
Meteorologists said the tornadoes were fueled by heavy humidity that increased the magnitude of passing thunderstorms and layers of high winds in the atmosphere.
On Tuesday afternoon, more summer storms swept through the region, but the weather didn't pack the punch of the earlier storm.
Gov. George Pataki said the state is evaluating the damage to determine if the areas hardest hit are eligible for federal aid.
State Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio encouraged people whose property was damaged to call his department's toll-free hot line at (800) 339-1759 with storm-related questions or complaints.
The storm wreaked havoc with train service between Albany and New York City. Four trains with about 350 passengers aboard were delayed. The trains included the Maple Leaf, which left Schenectady around 7:30 p.m. and pulled into New York's Penn Station more than eight hours late at 6:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Crews for CSX freight railroad, which owns and maintains the tracks, had cleared fallen trees and branches from the tracks by Tuesday afternoon, but Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said delays of up to 90 minutes for service between Rensselaer and New York City were expected to continue because signals and switching gears remained disabled due to power outages.
In these situations, CSX workers must be stationed at the switches to move them manually, Stessel said. When signals are out, he said, Amtrak dispatchers and engineers must communicate by radio so train speeds are lowered for safety. A CSX spokesman said power had been restored to almost all the signals and switches by late Tuesday afternoon. writers Cathy Woodruff and Erin Duggan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Probably somewhere in Kansas .. or Oz.
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