State and local agencies say they were busy on Sunday making preparations for the impact of winds that could gust as high as 75 mph. The wind gusts at the Rochester Airport hit 66 mph early Sunday evening. But it looks like Niagara Falls took the prize for highest wind gust in this region, with a 74 mph gust recorded on Sunday.
The High Wind Warning from the National Weather Service was canceled on Monday afternoon, but winds could still gust to 40mph later in the day.
The high winds have already brought down trees, power lines and caused other damage throughout Western NY and the Finger Lakes..
By late Sunday afternoon, more than 6,000 RG&E customers were without power in Monroe County. The numbers have been fluctuating, and by 2:30pm on Monday, about 748 RG&E customers in Monroe County were without power. National Grid had about 1,600 customers impacted in Orleans County as of Monday afternoon, and about 727 in Genesee County.
Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo lifted the advisory on 'no unnecessary travel' early Monday morning, but she still urged caution to morning commuters.
Livingston County Sheriff Thomas Dougherty, who also issued a travel advisory on Sunday, said that advisory is in place until noon on Monday.
Refuse and recycling is delayed by one day this week.
The City Department of Environmental Services will have 24-hour coverage to address any ramifications from the storm.
The Rochester Police Department, Fire Department and 911 called in additional staff to respond to an anticipated increase in emergency calls.
The Town of Greece is using the main branch of its library at the town hall campus to serve as a warming center for anyone without power.
Town Supervisor Bill Reilich says they are prepared to open the Town of Greece Community and Senior Center also if needed. He said they also activated the town’s Emergency Response Center to help coordinate the response to the storm. The town's Facebook pagewill also have updates.
A March 2017 windstorm left more than 250,000 utility customers without power in this region -- many of them for days –Governor Cuomo made a stop in Rochester on Saturday, saying that since then, the state has taken steps to make sure the utility companies are prepared.
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul told WXXI News on Sunday night, that the state has “... brought in National Guard members, they’re all over, they’re equipped with chain saws, they’re prepared to go to help if there’s flooding situations, we’re monitoring what’s going on up on Lake Ontario, which we had very severe problems over the last few years because of high water levels."
Governor Cuomo directed the Department of Transportation and the Thruway Authority to ban empty tractor trailers and empty tandems from portions of the New York State Thruway and some interstate highways in the Western New York, Central New York and Finger Lakes Regions.
All empty tractor trailers/tandems were still banned Monday afternoon from traveling on I-90 between exit 31 (Utica) and exit 45 (Rochester - I-490.)
The earlier ban between exit 45 (Rochester - I-490) and exit 61 (Ripley - PA line) and the Niagara Thruway I-190 has been lifted. In addition, the speed limit between exit 31 (Utica) and exit 34 (Canastota) was reduced to 45mph Monday afternoon due to whiteout conditions.
On Sunday, Cuomo also mobilized another 150 members of the National Guard to help with clearing storm debris, bringing that number up to 250 personnel.
The Greater Rochester International Airport also has seen a number of flight cancellations.Several area school districts were closed Monday as well.
Here's some video of the sights and sounds near Irondequoit Bay on Sunday afternoon from WXXI's Brett Dahlberg:
