Delaware County state of emergency lifted; travel advisory in effect; multiple road closings and power outages

In Delaware County, thousands of homes are without power (mainly in Sidney and Roxbury) and there is a travel advisory issued for the roads. The county has lifted the state of emergency, however, and is not operating any shelters, has cut emergency operations staff back to minimum levels, and is predicting that "major flooding is not a concern." No major reports of flooding have occurred in Delaware County at this time. 

Several roads are closed, including:

• Ben Meeker Road, Searles Road and Swart Road in the Town of  Middletown are all closed due to trees and/or power lines down.  
• New York State Route 30 from Cat Hollow Road to Holiday Brook Road. 
• New York State Route 97 from Newman Road to the Sullivan County line. 

Read all the specifics in the press releases below, all of which were issued this morning: 

9am:

Delaware County remains under a travel advisory until further notice. 

Travel only when necessary.  If you must travel use caution as crews 

may be out continuing to work clearing roads and repairing down lines.  

Also beware of debris, trees and downed lines as wind is continued.   

Do not attempt to drive through or touch downed power lines.  Do not 

drive through water, stay out of flooded basements.  Remember, 

generators can be dangerous. Do not attempt to cut trees where power 

lines are down. 

 

The following roads or sections of roads are reported as closed: 

Ben Meeker Road, Searles Road and Swart Road in the Town of 

Middletown are all closed due to trees and/or power lines down 

New York State Route 30 from Cat Hollow Road to Holiday Brook Road. 

New York State Route 97 from Newman Road to the Sullivan County 

line. 

 

Once trees and power lines are removed from these roads, they will be 

reopened.  

 

NYSEG customers without power has risen slightly to 1,800. Crews 

remain out and will continue to work to restore power.  

County offices are closed from 7AM to 5PM, but County Courts are 

open. 

 

The EOC remains open at this time but staffing has been cut back to a 

minimum.  

7am: 

Delaware County Chairman, James E. Eisel, Sr. rescinded the State of 

Emergency for Delaware County at 6AM October 30, 2012.  

 

A travel advisory has been issued until further notice. Travel only when 

necessary.  If you must travel use caution as crews are out continuing 

to work clearing roads and repairing downed power lines.  Also beware 

of debris, trees and downed lines as wind continues to gust.  Do not 

attempt to cut trees where power lines are down. Do not attempt to 

drive through or touch downed power lines.  Do not drive through 

water. Stay out of flooded basements.  Remember, generators can be 

dangerous.  

 

State of Emergencies remain in effect in the Town and Village of 

Hancock, Town of Deposit and Village of Fleischmanns. These State of 

Emergencies will be re-evaluated later this morning.  

Both NYSEG and the Delaware County Electric Cooperative (DCEC) 

continue to repair power outages and downed lines.  NYSEG and the 

DCEC report approximately 1,600 and 1,000 customers are out of 

power respectively. 

 

Major flooding is not a concern at this time and flash flooding reports 

have been minimal overnight.  

 

There are no shelters open in Delaware County at this time. 

10pm 10/29/12:

Delaware County governmental offices will be closed tomorrow (October 30th ) for non-essential staff.

The following Delaware County school systems have reported they are closed on Tuesday October 30, 2012:

• Andes
• Charlotte Valley
• Delhi
• Downsville
• Franklin
• Hancock
• Margaretville
• NCOC BOCES in Grand Gorge
• Roxbury
• Sidney
• South Kortright
• Stamford
• Walton

For updated road information citizens can call 607-865-TOGO (8646). This phone number will contain a message on road closures in Delaware County and is updated regularly by Delaware County Sheriff’s Office personnel.

Currently, there are there are approximately 2,900 (2,700 NYSEG customers and 200 DCEC customers) residences in Delaware County without power. The Village of Sidney and Roxbury have wide spread outages at this time.

Locations for Red Cross shelters have been established however there are no shelter openings at this time. If the need arises, Red Cross will press release the information on the location of shelters.