Rome Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan had no idea a tornado would hit his city.
And after sleepless nights, constant meetings, and directed efforts to restore Rome, the mayor said he wouldn’t do anything different.
Taking office in January, the mayor's office is Lanigan's first time in a public office.
Originally a member of the Rome Police Department, his public safety training proved invaluable to keeping a cool head in an emergency.
When the tornado hit Rome
Lanigan said they knew a bad storm was coming, but at no point did he or anyone else at City Hall think it would be a tornado.
“When it hit, I was in the conference room. We ended up going to the basement and stayed there for about 10 minutes,” Lanigan said, recounting the day of July 16. “I came back up to see, and I [was going back to the conference room] and looked out the front windows. First, I saw St. Mary’s steeple gone, then I saw First Presbyterian’s steeple gone, and then I looked down Washington Street and saw all the trees uprooted.
“That was when I knew it was bad.”
Shocked and standing there with Public Safety Commissioner Kenneth White, he and Lanigan just surveyed the damage and how far it had spread.
That’s when the sirens started going off.
Lanigan said his law enforcement background helped him remain calm in what was obviously a bad situation, and he started working to establish a command center.
“We needed to get out there and get help to people out there. Someone could have been trapped in their house or under a tree,” he said.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. was at a press conference at Wolfspeed in Marcy when the wind and the rain started to hit.
"I was standing there and my phone started going off during the press event while I was at the podium, announcing funding from the federal government," Picente Jr. said. "I looked to [Assistant to the County Executive] Phil Vanno to call the office to find out what was going on."
"Right as we finished the press conference, he tells me that a tornado hit Rome."
Picente said within minutes, Lanigan had gotten in touch with him. From there, the focus was on getting aid to those who needed it.
Taking command of 'organized chaos'
A command center at the terminal building on Griffiss Airforce Base was established.
Lanigan described it as "organized chaos."
“Everyone did an incredible job with what they were assigned, and everyone worked so well together,” the mayor said. “I think that’s why we had so many comments from people who had been through other tornadoes and were shocked to see a city get everything cleaned up and power restored within four days…That’s a compliment to everyone in that command center who made the plan and everyone in the city that executed it.”
Those four days weren’t spent idly.
Lanigan said he hardly got any sleep those nights and went through a lot of coffee.
“Everybody worked from 5 a.m. until sundown that first week,” Lanigan said. “And it wasn’t until that Sunday that we told everyone to take that Sunday off. But we went back at it on Monday.”
Picente said when he got to Rome, he got right to work.
"Rome was in disarray. Power was out," he said. "I had been through emergencies before and while a bit of [the procedure] was new to Lanigan, he's former law enforcement and knew the drill. We played off each other and got a lot done in a remarkable amount of time. Between our internal staffs, first responders, and Public Works, came together in a real seamless and unique way."
In hindsight: 'We couldn't have done it any better'
When asked if there was anything he would have done differently, looking back in hindsight, the Rome mayor and county executive said no.
“We couldn’t have done it any better. There’s nothing I would have changed,” Lanigan said. “I wouldn’t have done anything different. I commend everyone involved.”
Getting specific, Lanigan said he had an amazing team at Rome City Hall, with veterans and rookies alike meshing together.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be the mayor of this community with what we went through and what we accomplished in such a short period of time,” he added.
Picente said there are always hiccups, but he couldn't think of anything he or Lanigan could have done differently.
"I've thought about it a lot," the county executive said. "We came together really well. I can't point to any second guesses or anything the mayor should have done differently."
With the tornado behind him and repair efforts underway, Lanigan has referred to this as his ‘baptism by fire.’
“I gotta hope it’s all downhill from here,” he said, laughing.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: 'We couldn't have done it any better:' Rome mayor reflects on response to July tornado
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