The remnants of Hurricane Ida came plowing through the county yesterday, dumping just over six inches of rain in our area since yesterday. At one point some 17,000 O&R customers lost power, but at last check this morning a little more than 27-hundred customers were still in the dark. O&R says company and contractor overhead line technicians and tree removal experts have been deployed to a number of scenes and are working to restore power as soon as possible. They warn you not to go near downed wires.
The Clarkstown School District, which just started classes yesterday, is closed today due to flooding of a number of major roads in town. Pearl River schools, which also opened yesterday, are open today.
Traffic-wise, the New York State Thruway is closed on the southbound side heading toward the bridge between Exit 14 at Route 59 and Route 303 Exit 12. The northbound side is shut down between exit 12 and the Palisades Parkway. As such traffic on the Westchester-bound side is backed up all the way to Suffern-Mahwah near the 87-287 merge.
Other trouble spots in Rockland include Route 59 in West Nyack by Palisades Center and on 59 in Nanuet near the Shops at Nanuet. It’s also a slow go on Route 9W and River Road in Piermont. There’s also a slowdown on Route 202 in Ramapo near Lime Kiln Road. Westchester, Northern NJ and the city appear to be the hardest hit with sporadic closures on the Garden State Parkway, the Turnpike, the Sprain, the Bronx River Parkway, the Hutch, I-95, the Harlem River Drive, and a number of major roadways in Brooklyn and Queens. There were sporadic delays on mass transit, you should check with your carrier before you head out. Hudson Link service is currently suspended.