Cleanup efforts continue in the city of Oneida

ONEIDA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Residents in Madison County are still picking up the pieces after Tuesday’s storms swept through the city of Oneida.

Many people woke up without electricity Wednesday morning, after Tuesday’s high winds led to fallen trees and downed power lines, leaving many homes and businesses in the dark for hours.

“I just heard like a bang, and then I started hearing things falling which were parts of my ceiling in the kitchen,” said Jennifer Tracy, a city of Oneida resident.

It was a scary moment for Tracy, who had only lived in her city apartment for just six months.

“I looked up and didn’t even know what happened but my whole ceiling caved in and after the storm, I realized that somebody said that the tree had fallen down,” said Tracy.

The massive tree landed partially on Tracy’s apartment roof, bringing in large amounts of water into her kitchen. Tracy said her kitchen is now underwater and almost everything inside is damaged.

“We have no electricity. I got an electric stove, microwave is electric, nothing to eat, all my food is going bad,” said Tracy.

But Tracy isn’t alone.

“My boyfriend was upstairs, trying to close the upstairs windows, there was like water everywhere, we had to go up with a towel and wipe it off,” said Jennifer Lerz, a new city of Oneida resident.

Far from ideal for Lerz and her boyfriend. The couple just moved to Oneida from Connecticut.

“We just got unpacked and the winds picked up and the rain came in the windows, and I was screaming let’s shut the windows, we got to shut the windows. It felt like the winds were going to pick up the house,” said Lerz.

Thankfully, her new home wasn’t damaged, but both Lerz and Tracy are still without power.

City residents still have a long road ahead with cleanup efforts just beginning.

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