As of noon today, power remains out across most of Port Jervis, and the fire department is continuing to pump out basements. Most of the areas affected areas are in the city’s Third and Fourth Wards.
Orange and Rockland’s website as of noon, shows 11 p.m. as a restore time. Port Jervis Emergency Service Coordinator Tom Vicchiarriello, however, said he was told that O&R hopes to have power restored by 3 or 4 p.m.
Vicchiarriello said the 11 p.m. time was put in place as a buffer in case additional rain, as had been predicted, comes.
Port Jervis Fire Chief Keith Brown said, as of 1 p.m. today, 17 basements had been pumped with calls continuing to come in.
PJFD crews have been out since the earliest morning hours, as have the city’s Department of Public Works crews.
It was the DPW that applied a back-up generator to the closed underpass once the rain stopped. They were then able to hard wire the generator to drain both flooded sides of the underpass.
DPW Director Steve Duryea explained that once the power went out, the sump pump that ordinarily keeps that area clear did not work. The back up generator could not be hardwired while it was raining, but once it stopped, they were able to do this, which allowed it to drain.
Duryea said at that point, street sweepers went in to clear the grades of all the mud and debris that comes up during such times. Once this was completed, the underpass was able to be opened back up.
Street sweepers have been out clearing drains and cleaning streets over past weeks.
