Microburst leaves trail of destruction in Montour Falls

MONTOUR FALLS, N.Y. ( WETM ) –One of the places in our area that is cleaning up right now after this week’s storms is Montour Falls. That’s where strong downward winds called a microburst hit parts of the village and forced some families out of their homes.

John Parker lives in Rock Cabin Park in Montour Falls and was startled by the microburst when it hit. Some trees landed on top of his truck.

“I heard a bunch of high wind, and I was in the trailer, and I heard some creaking and then the next thing I know the trees land between my trailer and the trailer next door,” said Parker.

Montour Falls Mayor James Ryan says the cleanup efforts are going well. Homeowners are responsible for clearing out debris unless it is an area deemed an emergency.

“The village has got several areas where they are cleaning up and as the crews go through many of the homeowners have brought some of the debris out. We’ll go through chip it up and move on and continue to bring this stuff to the curb. We will continue to go and take care of it,” Ryan said.

Although the damage is done, there is still a long road to recovery. According to Ryan, New York State Gas and Electric have to come and assess the damage along with insurance agencies.

“The long-term effect is going to be you know bringing these structures either up to a level of safety or they’re going to have to either be removed or demolished. There’s other places in the village too we have to get some trees removed, and we’ve got tree experts coming and evaluating which trees have to come out and then we’ll have to get on a timeline to get those done.”

The other homes in Rock Cabin Park that didn’t suffer any damage should have power by the end of Thursday.

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