Authorities investigate storm damage in Greenwood Lake

On Thursday morning, May 23, a severe storm ripped through the Orange County area, knocking down trees and powerlines, resulting in the closure of several roadways and school bus services halted.

In Greenwood Lake, a possible microburst of wind caused enough damage to call in emergence response teams from the Orange County Emergency Services-Division of Emergency Management who arrived to assist the Greenwood Lake Village Police Department, fire department and EMS, Warwick Town Police, New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the NYS Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Jersey Ave. and East Shore Road were closed to traffic. Warwick police asked residents to remain at home and to call 911 with any emergencies.

The Division of Emergency Management also noted that it was working with the National Weather Service to identify the exact type of weather event that occurred.

Emergency Management said that Orange County 911 received 34 calls reporting various issues related to the storm “such as downed trees and power lines, alarm activations, vehicle rescues, gas leaks, structural damage reports and other fire type calls.”

Orange and Rockland also issued an outage report for the region; roughly 2,700 residents were without power.

In a statement issued through social media, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said, “As we reported earlier, a significant storm impacted the Greenwood Lake area this morning. Emergency operations have been on the ground working with utilities. Please avoid this area if you do not need to be here! Our first responders and public utilities need to be able to get to every residence that has been impacted. I am thankful for all the resources that are here on the ground, including the Village of Greenwood Lake, NY, the town of Warwick, Orange County Emergency Services-NY, NY State, as well as all our mutual aid fire and EMS agencies. We will continue to provide updates and we appreciate the public’s help and cooperation.”

Orange County Emergency Services is conducting initial damage assessments following storm damage in the Greenwood Lake/Warwick Area. To report damages, they are asking affected residents complete the survey available online at the following website: bit.ly/GWL5_23_24.

This information will also be used by local officials to help determine what assistance may be available to residents.