Last week will not be easily forgotten. It has been etched in everyone’s memory as a moment when Mother Nature showed who is in charge. Multiple heavy snowstorms pounded the Mid Hudson region, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake. 

Central Hudson issued a statement that last week’s storm was the worst in the company’s history. At the storm’s peak, 150,000 customers lost power, food in freezers went bad, cracked trees blocked roadways, power lines snapped while weary highway crews battled the elements trying to keep roadways open and clear.

Regina Daunicht, of 511 North Elting Corners Road in Highland, said her power had gone off and on several times before finally quitting altogether. She said she has managed to stay warm by using a woodstove, adding that many of her neighbors have generators, “but how long can you live without power?”

Jeremy Intonti, of 206 New Paltz Road in Highland, was busy shoveling the heavy snow off of his roof on Saturday. His wife, Erin, said they lost power last Thursday evening.

“It went off and on and we thought we were lucky but then we lost it [power] for good,” she said.

Jeremy said no trees hit their house, “but all of the food went bad. That’s about it.”

“Our poor neighbor’s shed collapsed right there,” Erin pointed out.

She said they have owned their home just shy of two years, adding it is the worst storm she has seen, “especially being home owners it’s even worse because seeing we have no power and worrying about the pipes.”

Joseph DiLorenzo, who owns DiLorenzo’s Pond and Landscaping, was out for days plowing driveways for his clients.

“It’s been rough and round the clock just trying to keep up,” he said on Saturday.
DiLorenzo said that 6 to 8 inches of this heavy snow is much harder to deal with than 12 inches of powder snow.

“What normally takes one pass [of the plow] took three or four,” he said. “It was just an evil storm, it really was,”

DiLorenzo said he covers Poughkeepsie, New Paltz, Highland and Clintondale.
“New Paltz is treacherous,” he said. “I think it’s bad with accidents everywhere. I see them all over the place.”

Garrett Lulli drives flatbeds for Erichsen’s Auto Service Center in Highland. He said the worst part has been trying to get to the calls on time since he can only drive about 30 mph in the storm.

“You do it as quick as you can and safe as you can and then you go to the next one,” he said.

Owner Jerry Erichsen said this past week his shop has been more than a little busy.

“I’ll tell you one thing, we did 15 calls in one hour of people needing help in the middle of the snowstorm, and 13 snow removals in New Paltz in 40 minutes” he said. “It’s accidents, people off the road, winching people onto the road. It’s just phenomenal. We had everyone on and extra trucks going.”

Erichsen not only covers the local area but takes care of a 20-mile section of the NYS Thruway from Modena to nearly Kingston. He said he used 4 flatbeds, 4 wreckers and “all 3 heavies,” which each can “lift and pull” up to 45 tons, to handle all of the emergencies he faced.

Erichsen, who grew up in Highland, said this is “one of the worst for a power outage storm I’ve seen. The whole combination of the storm was the worst that could possibly happen with the wet snow turning to ice.”

“We had our tough times but we sailed through it pretty good,’ he said. “I think we made 99 percent of our customers happy.”

Lloyd Highway Superintendent Frank Lombardi said, “it was pretty rough and we had some equipment break down.”

“I kept the men for about 30 hours around the clock to keep the roads open,” he said.

Lombardi, who is in his 80s, said he has seen worse “but that’s going way back, but this is one of the wetter ones. It was hard for the trucks and they burned a lot of fuel.”

Lombardi said he was proud of his crew’s performance.

“I am very pleased,” he said. “I told them you can’t go home. We have to stay here. We’ll go out, clean up, push back, come back and rest up and as it builds up we’ll go right back out. The guys are really tired and they did a great job.”

Working Supervisor Tom Marion said the highway crew came in on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. and worked around the clock until 12:30 p.m. Friday afternoon tackling the bulk of the storm. He said that during this time frame there were four 911 calls, two trees blocking roads, an ambulance that got stuck on its way to a heart attack victim on Dogwood Knolls and a state trooper snagged in a snow bank on New Paltz Road. He said that one of his trucks busted a plow frame that had to be welded to fix it, and a wing brace on his truck broke.

“Pancake Hollow Road is a real mess. That’s like a war zone,” Marion said.
The crew came in again at midnight on Monday morning and worked through till dawn carting away snow and clearing the sidewalks of the hamlet to be ready in time for the businesses to open.

Lloyd Supervisor Ray Costantino was out of state during the snow storms of last week.

When contacted last Thursday Plattekill Supervisor Bruce Loertscher said he was out surveying the damage from the first wave of the storm.

“I’m checking roads that are still blocked up,” he said. “I am dealing with Central Hudson right as we speak. It’s unbelievable.”

Loertscher praised his highway crew, under the leadership of Robert Wager.

“It was extraordinary. They went above and beyond,” he said. “The whole Highway crew did a heck of a job. I commend them for their service.”

Loertscher said he called a State of Emergency on Thursday morning at 3 a.m. He said this meant no “frivolous” traffic was allowed.

The supervisor said this storm is one for the record book.

“I’ve been here all my life and my family for three generations and for me personally this is the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said.

He said there were no fatalities.

“Everybody is alive and nothing for nothing, I had people on the phone crying,” he said.

Loertscher praised the Plattekill Fire Company.

“They opened up their arms and took people in as a shelter,” he said. “Many people took advantage of that. We had cots down there and a warm place to stay.”

Assistant Plattekill Fire Chief, Robert Betanzos, said the shelter at the fire house helped a lot of people.

“We had 42 go through one night, 12 on another night,” he said. “We did dinners and breakfasts for them and we went through three pallets of water. We were also able to get some dry ice from the Town of Newburgh drop-offs of Central Hudson, which we also dispersed.”

Plattekill Highway Superintendent Robert Wager said everyone in his department did an excellent job.

“I can’t give my guys enough credit. I think my guys did a heck of a job,” Wager said. “They never stopped working and never took a break. They never went home and worked right on through.”

Wager said that between the two storms he believes his crew only took 90 minutes “to recoup.”

Wager said he had about 10 in his crew.

“We had 10 pieces of equipment and chainsaws going constantly cutting trees,” he said. “We were navigating around power lines and around trees.”

Wager said their work is not completely done and he will be out yet again seeing what areas of town need help.

“I was in direct contact with Bruce Loertscher all of the time,” he said. “Anything he could do, he was constantly there for us. We worked hand in hand with all three fire departments – Clintondale, Modena and Plattekill – and our Police Department. Everyone worked well together. It was a good effort by everybody.”

Marlborough Supervisor Chris Cerone said that although perhaps 600 people still do not have power “we did pretty good.”

“I have to say our Highway Department and our Police Department and the community held together and did a fantastic job of getting the roads cleared,” he said. “There were no major disasters other than the electrical part. No one was hurt.”

Cerone said men from the Water Department pitched in and the new mechanic, James VanVliet, “was in there making sure the equipment was up and running. [Highway Superintendent] Gael Appler and his guys did a phenomenal job. They put a lot of time in but the roads were clear. They were very mindful of the downed lines.”

Appler is a veteran of many storms.

“We made out all right,” he said. “We got everything open and had our usual amount of difficulties with the volume of snow and everything. We handled it with our nine guys.”

Appler, a lifelong resident of Marlborough, said this storm ranks high on his list.

“We had almost 34 inches on top of Mount Zion,” he said. “It varied from 10 to 12 down here by the river. It was tough plowing. We had trucks off the road and trucks that broke down.”

Erichsen towed two of Appler’s trucks.

“With no frost and the soft ground and [poor] visibility all you have to do is get one wheel off and you’re done,” said Appler.

By MARK REYNOLDS
mreynolds@tcnewspapers.com