Storm recovery in Warren County, National Grid gives free water

WARREN COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Storm cleanup continues in Warren County after severe weather swept through this week. To alleviate the struggle of residents without power, National Grid offered free water and dry ice outside the Warrensburg Fire Department.

Tripp Lake Road has entire yards decimated by trees that have snapped in half or uprooted; some on top of homes. While that road has reopened, County Route 28 has not. "That was closed Wednesday night hopefully just until today because that's a main thoroughfare," said Kevin Geraghty, Warrensburg Town Supervisor.

The NYS Department of Transportation is clearing the way of trees and debris. When it is done, National Grid can come in to reorganize and replace a tangled mess of powerlines.

Of the three distribution sites with free necessities provided by National Grid, the Elm Street location saw around 60 people in the first few hours. "These guys showed up right at 8 o'clock this morning and we had a customer waiting to get some dry ice and water," described Geraghty.

"We want to make sure that some of these customers who have been without power for a couple of days have the ability to keep some food cold and get some water and try to help out as much as we can," added Patrick Stella with National Grid.

Town and County officials are estimating County Route 28 will reopen Thursday night or Friday morning. "The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down in the town of Chester which is a little north here of Warrensburg. That doesn't happen here in Warren County very often thankfully," stated Don Lehman, Warren County Director of Public Affairs.