A spring snowstorm pummeled upstate New York communities with snow, ice, and freezing rain over the weekend.
The storm left thousands of upstate New York residents without power as they dug out from up to two feet of snow in some northern communities.
For some service providers, it meant additional strain on available resources and staff.
Lake Luzerne was among a handful of municipalities that received upwards of a foot-and-a-half of snow.
Senior Center Program Director Barbara Mitchell says staff were on hand all weekend with warm cups of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate in case any residents lost power.
“So, this time we did not get a phone call saying ‘could you open your center?’ We were available if that was the case. But our buildings and grounds department and our road crew, they put in many hours cleaning our sidewalks and making sure our parking lot was ready if we were needed to house anyone here,” said Mitchell.
Clifton Park Highway Superintendent Dahn Bull said the National Weather Service’s prediction of two to four inches of snow turned into freezing rain and a foot of snow, taking his department and residents by surprise.
“All our emergency responders had a busy night and busy day in Clifton Park for Saturday and Saturday night. A lot of downed power lines a lot of downed trees, a lot of road closures. And at the same time our crews were working hour after hour to keep those roads open. But it was almost an impossible task. They were throwing everything at us from the sky: rain, snow, sleet freezing rain – we had it all,” said Bull.
Up in Warren County, Public Works Superintendent Kevin Hajos said the 24 inches of snow in his backyard was more than triple some predictions for the area. His crew was prepared nonetheless.
“Does it strain us a little? Yes, because we start to unsuit our trucks and take our plows and such off this time of year because we’re gearing up toward construction season. But, on the same token we’re always prepared knowing that it’s spring in the Adirondacks and weather can change in an instant. And, sure enough, it did this weekend, it showed us that we were gonna have snow,” said Hajos.
Hajos said most of the cleanup in Warren County was completed early Monday.
Shelters of Saratoga runs the seasonal Code Blue shelter in Saratoga Springs. Moved to a larger location for this winter, Executive Director Dwayne Vaughn says the shelter was prepared.
“So we saw the storm coming ahead of time. We didn’t think it was going to be this heavy. But, to us, you know, three or four inches and a foot are really no different for us. We’re going to treat it the same and do our best to take care of everybody. So, we were well prepared for this in advance,” said Vaughn.
The Code Blue shelter received additional funding from the city to remain open throughout the winter, not just when temperatures go below freezing. Vaughn says it has provided a vital service to unhoused locals including on what was technically the first weekend of spring.
“We had been keeping Code Blue open regularly through actually even some of these warm days that we have had. We will start to slowly move things towards closing as we get into April. But it is—we did not want to send 75 people out into—released from Code Blue all at once. So, we’re keeping it open as long as we can,” said Vaughn.
