State of Emergency Declared in Scarsdale

Sustained winds of up to 60 miles per hour hit Scarsdale hard last night and left 70% of residents without power, over 170 trees down, cars and homes with extensive damage and residents in peril. According to Con Edison saturated grounds exacerbated the problem as the wet grounds loosened the soil around tree root systems and caused many to topple over. In the Scarsdale P.O. 5,800 homes are without power. District schools may be closed tomorrow, Monday March 15.

Homes on River Road, Donellan Road, Drake Road and Johnson Road were all hit by trees and residents were forced out. The Village declared a State of Emergency on Saturday night and police have asked people to refrain from driving to keep roads clear for repairmen and prevent additional incidents. As of noon on Sunday Fenimore Roads, Kingston Roads, Huntington Roads were blocked as well as Sherbrooke, Morris Lane, Birchall Drive, Heathcote Road, Weaver Street and Mamaroneck Roads.

Around town, it appeared as if a tornado had blown through. Devastating damage was done in Edgewood on Johnson Road between Sprague and Boulevard where at least five trees feel in a row. A BMW with passengers inside was hit and the car was trapped by trees in front and behind it. Luckily the driver and passenger were able to escape the car uninjured. Another car parked in a driveway on Johnson Road was flattened and a home was smashed by another large tree. The scene is a tangled mass of trunks and branches. I saw some homeowners trying to forge a footpath back to their home amidst the trees, wires and Con Edison trucks.

This is the worst situation Con Edison has seen in decades. Power outages are widespread and hundreds of individual repairs will need to be done. Before Con Ed can restore power, they will need to make work areas safe so that trees can be cleared. Today, Sunday, they will be turning off the power to live wires so that tree crews can remove trees. Once this is done, they can work on restoring the power.

Mayor Carolyn Stevens reported that many Village employees came to work Saturday night to manage the emergency. There were two simultaneous house fires, one on Overhill Road and one on Brewster Road and it was fortunate that the Fire Chief was here to supervise.

Miraculously, there have been no serious injuries reported in Scarsdale. However in Hartsdale a man was killed by a tree that fell on his car. Mayor Stevens said that she saw residents removing police barricades and emergency tape in an effort to maneuver their way around town. This puts others at risk and she asks that you leave barricades and tape in place.

At my own home, a large tree hit our house, shearing off railings and gutters and landing on our car. The thud as the tree shook the frame of our house was terrifying.

Here is a statement from Mayor Carolyn Stevens written on Sunday morning 3/14:

In an attempt to keep folks in their homes we have declared a State of Emergency for the Village We have over 170 trees down that are blocking roads - many of those involve electrical wires. We have had crews out removing trees in the roadways where there are no wires involved - they have been working since yesterday afternoon and we have brought in one private tree removal company to assist with that effort.

Over 70 % of the Village is without power at this point. Con Ed advised that they would have a crew here @ 7:00 AM to begin shutting down power on live wires in the street so that our crews can remove the trees but they have not yet arrived. Last night we also had two active and simultaneous house fires; one due to unattended candles and another caused by an electrical issue. Benny has been working since yesterday afternoon with his crews. Al, of course, has been working as well. Both Chiefs Brogan and Cain came in last night along with Andy Matturo in efforts to help coordinate efforts. We had reports of 3 or 4 cars hit with people inside and one pedestrian.

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