Rye Area Recovering After Weekend Storm

Wind gusts as high as 56 mph knocked down trees all over Westchester, leading to fallen wires and power outages throughout the county.

As of Tuesday evening, 39,000 customers in Westchester County are still without power, according to Con Edison. According to the company's Storm Center map, more than 2,000 customers in Rye and Rye Brook are still without power.

Con Edison said Tuesday that 95 percent of customers without power would have it restored by Thursday night.

All Rye schools were closed Monday because of power outages over the weekend at Rye Middle School and Rye High School, according to Caryn Furst, a spokesperson for the Rye City School District.

Many local hotels don't have rooms available because evacuees from the storm have sought shelter there.

The Marriott on Midland Avenue was completely booked Monday, while the Rye Town Hilton doesn't have any rooms available Monday or Tuesday.

The Hyatt Regency in Greenwich and the Renaissance Westchester Hotel in West Harrison are completely sold out, as well.

Rye Patch received a photo on Saturday from Suzanne Clary, president of the Jay Heritage Center. Clary's photo shows a historic tree that had fallen on the property. Clary said the storm brought down a 100-year old weeping beach tree on the property over the weekend.

The trunk is intact and JHC hopes the tree can be saved and replanted, Clary said.

Fallen Trees Cause Road Closures in Rye

Rye Police Lieutenant Joseph Verille said, as of Sunday night, Purchase Street in the direction of Harrison was closed because of a fallen tree.

The following streets were also closed:

Highland Road, near Grandview Avenue

Manursing Way closed because of a fallen tree

Forest Avenue near Gramercy Avenue

Forest and Pine Island Road

Verille said the police department did not receive any reports of home flooding or car entrapment because of fallen trees, as was the case in Harrison, where a tree fell on a vehicle, trapping the car's owner on Harrison Avenue around 4:40 p.m. on Saturday. 

Verille said there was road flooding on Milton Road and near Kirby Lane, but no one was injured during storm.

Rye City Manager Frank Culross said Monday night that 68 locations throughout the city were without power. 

Culross said the biggest municipal damage was to to Rye Recreation, where a large tree fell and split in half over the building's storage area.

Mayor Doug French said the county is assessing whether Rye and other areas ravaged by the storm this weekend qualify for federal disaster relief funds.

More Than 1800 Without Power in Rye Brook

Rye Brook Police Lieutenant Eugene Matthews said no one was injured in the village, but there was plenty of property damage such as basement flooding, trees falling on cars and leaning against homes.

More than 1800 people were out of power Monday in Rye Brook, down from a peak of 2200 during the weekend, Matthews said. 

Village roadways were blocked because of fallen trees, downed wires and telephone poles, but police and fire crews spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday clearing roads, Matthews said.

"Right now, currently, all roads are passable," he said.

Residents are responsible for removing fallen trees and clearing stumps from their properties. Small trees branches should be tied in 3 ft lengths and will be picked up by the sanitation department. Medium branches should be put on the roadside and will be picked up by highway crews, Matthews said.

Matthews said the storm caused more damage in the village than he's seen in recent years.

"I have never see anything this bad in the 30 years I've been here, as far as the trees falling down," he said. 

Rye Patch will continue to update this story, so check back later.  For more information, readers can track power outages on Con Edison's Storm Center map.