Several residents of Rock Cabin Park, a mobile home park in Schuyler County, are unable to return home after a severe storm tore through the area Monday evening, taking down trees and powerlines and leaving destroyed trailers in its wake.
The park, located in the small village of Montour Falls, remained without electricity on Tuesday as NYSEG worked to return power to more than 20,000 customers with outages in Schuyler, Steuben and Chemung counties.
“Nobody's got electric, and the people that are here, they're kind of stuck here,” said Karen Kelley, who brought a generator to her niece’s trailer in the mobile home park Tuesday morning. “Some of them have lost their homes, and it's pretty sad that we don't have more help here.”
The Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at the Montour Falls Fire Department on Monday to provide shelter, electricity, and cooling resources to residents displaced and without power.
“We've been trying to provision for people to have places to stay — sheltering, housing, as well as getting them some food and water,” said Kirk Smith, director of emergency services for Schuyler County. “Some people will not be able to go back to their homes, so we are going to be looking at temporary housing.”
Other officials rolled out similar emergency services across the region Tuesday amid prolonged power outages and high temperatures.
Ken Forenz, Steuben County’s deputy director of public safety, warned residents to use caution while driving, as there are still many downed power lines and damaged trees.
"The best thing they can do, really, is to just avoid the downed trees and power lines and sit tight and hopefully NYSEG will be moving into their area to start restoration processes sooner than later," Forenz said.
Steuben County officials also say residents should use caution while operating portable generators.
NYSEG said it expects to have power restored to the majority of customers by Tuesday evening. Others can expect power to be restored over the next few days due to the severity of the damage, according to the company.
Towns in Cortland County, including the towns of Virgil and McGraw, saw damage from Monday's storm as well. The county's department of emergency response said on social media it had responded to numerous trees and wires down, a structure fire due to lightning, and several buildings that suffered structural damage. Emergency crews in the town of Walton in Delaware County also responded to damage from downed trees and power lines.
Homes wrecked
Bart Curtis, 77, was in his mobile home’s living room with his wife Monday evening when the storm blew through. He said at first he noticed the loud sounds as tree limbs cracked and powerful winds shook his home. Then, he heard the glass of his living room window shatter.
The storm passed in a matter of minutes. Afterwards, the roof and walls of his trailer were dented and punctured from falling tree limbs. The back room, where his wife usually sewed, was missing a section of its wall. Light from outside shone through another hole torn through the bathroom wall.
“We just put on a steel roof, which I think saved our lives,” Curtis said on Tuesday afternoon as he surveyed the damage. His house is one of at least two that officials said will need to be torn down due to severe damage. Several other residents are prohibited from returning to their homes until the damage is assessed.
Curtis said he and his wife plan to stay at a nearby hotel until his family can determine a long-term solution. Walking room to room in his disfigured trailer, he collected everything he hoped they would need until then, picking up medication, family photos, keepsake jewelry, and his collection of recording equipment — a hobby born from his long career working in radio.
But he couldn’t find one special item: the family cat, a blonde American Shorthair named Chewey. Before leaving, he filled three large bowls full of water, and scattered treats across the kitchen floor. Chewey, he hoped, would find his way back home.
As he left, the door to his mobile home already had an official “Do Not Enter/Occupy” sign on it.
Concerns for vulnerable residents
With temperatures reaching into the 90s Tuesday, Steuben County set up several cooling centers to provide refuge to those without power and air conditioning.
County officials also recommend utilizing a local restaurant or grocery store. During a power outage, food will only stay safe in a refrigerator for up to four hours.
Research shows elderly residents, along with children and those with health conditions, are particularly vulnerable during power outages that follow severe storms.
Those include Virginia Townsend, 93, who was also inside her trailer at Rock Cabin Park during the storm. Though her home did not sustain any severe damage, she said she was evacuated by the fire department on Monday evening out of concerns for her health during the power outage.
Townsend spent Monday night at the Montour Falls Fire Department, where she said she was able to stay comfortable. On Tuesday afternoon, she waited there for her daughter, who lives in Ithaca, to pick her up.
Scientists have found climate change has made severe storms worse. In the 50 years Townsend has lived in Rock Cabin Park, she said she had never experienced a storm so severe. Though she’s used to heavy rains and occasional flooding, this storm seemed particularly intense, she said.
“It's really awful,” she said. “It makes me not really even want to live in the trailer anymore.”
