Executive Molinaro Provides Dutchess County Update Following Ida

This morning we informed the Hudson Valley of the travel restrictions and state of emergency issued as a result of Hurricane Ida. Today at 11am, County Executive Molinaro hosted local municipal leaders for a conference call to provide updates on the current state of damage in the area.

It was reported that Hurricane Ida brought four to six inches of rain to Dutchess County, and though travel restrictions have been lifted, the potential for further creek flooding remains as the county continues to assess storm damage. Public Works and Emergency Response reported that the majority of the significant storm damage occurred in the southern part of Dutchess County. County Executive Molinaro continues to stay in contact with Governor Kathy Hochul’s office to access the availability of State assets that can be deployed for local municipalities.

With regard to local response, the County's Emergency Operations Center was activated and staffed as of 11pm last night, and remains active today monitoring conditions. It was reported that between Wednesday at 5pm and Thursday at 5am, the County's 911 Center received approximately 800 calls, which is roughly twice the normal call volume.

The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, once the storm began yesterday, checked on predesignated areas around the county that have been prone to storm damage in the past, and also had to deploy their swift-water response team to calls from the Village of Wappingers and the Town of LaGrange.

It was also reported that more than 30 roads throughout Dutchess County were impacted or closed due to flooding. Some of those roads have since reopened while others remain closed. Updates have been posted on the Dutchess County Government facebook page:

As far as outages, Central Hudson reported early Thursday morning that approximately 1,700 Dutchess County customers were without power, with restoration expected by the end of the day today, while New York State Electric and Gas reported 300 customers without power, and restoration by 2pm today.

Another meeting is scheduled for this afternoon at 2pm, with a facebook live event on the Dutchess County Government Facebook page hosted by County Executive Molinaro.