Thunderstorms last night have knocked out power to thousands of people in Ulster and Sullivan Counties, according to news accounts. The Daily Freeman says central Ulster County was hit hard:
In all, there are 87,705 Central Hudson customers in Ulster County. The company reports this morning that 6,175 are without power.
Hardest hit areas during a Thursday night storm were Hurley, Marbletown, Olive and Woodstock, the company said this morning.
Kudos to the Times Herald-Record for putting together a handy list of towns affected and estimated power restoration times -- though a lot of them are "Not Yet Available." The paper also has a list of road closures in Sullivan County.
The THR also says the town of Bethel didn't fare so well:
New York State Electric and Gas is reporting more than 6,800 customers are without power. The hardest hit region is Sullivan County with 6,724 without power. In the Town of Bethel more than 1,100 customers are without power.
Rotten timing for Bethel -- this is the weekend more than 17,000 Phish fans are descending on the tiny town for a three-day jamfest. And many of them will be wandering the streets looking for a place to camp: A dispute between the town and the owners of the original Woodstock site, who had planned to allow camping on their property over the weekend, has left thousands of campers stranded.
[Owner Jeryl] Abramson said she will soon post information on the Internet with a statement to people who booked with them.
"I am telling people to call the town," Abramson said. "Surely, they must have a backup plan. The people will be coming out of the concert on LSD and Ecstasy and getting on public roads. What is the plan?"
We've heard reports of power outages in Delaware County, as well -- Roxbury, can you hear us? Readers, if you have any info, feel free to leave a comment.
