With power outages still widespread, Ulster County closes last remaining shelter

Above: A tree fallen onto power lines on Route 212 in Woodstock on Tuesday. Photo from the Town of Woodstock's Facebook page.

The emergency shelter at Belleayre -- the only one still operating in Ulster County as of Wednesday -- sent its last few occupants home and closed down at 4pm.

Ulster County director of emergency communications Art Snyder said that only four people stayed overnight at Belleayre last night. All of them were taken back to their homes this afternoon.

"Each of the shelters spoke with the people that had stayed there to ensure that those people were not interested in coming back to the shelter again," Snyder said.

Ulster County residents may not be clamoring for a cot at Belleayre, but with temperatures dropping and widespread power outages expected to continue into the weekend, the emergency is far from over for many people.

Rich Muellerleile, captain of the Shandaken Ambulance Service, said that the medical calls his department is fielding are on the rise.

"People are starting to feel the effects of this," he said. "Right now we're seeing a prevalence of medical calls. We worry about the emergency itself, but afterwards is just as important, because people are fried."

As of this post, nearly 14 percent of Central Hudson's Ulster County customers were still without power, including all 539 of the utility's customers in the remote town of Denning, where power is expected to be restored by Friday evening. In Woodstock, where power is still out for 2766 Central Hudson customers -- nearly 60 percent of its customers in the town -- the power is not expected to be restored to all households until Sunday evening.

Some towns, like Shawangunk, where over 26 percent of Central Hudson's customers were without power, do not yet have an estimated power restoration time from Central Hudson.

NYSEG is also reporting power outages for its customers in several Ulster County towns. 67 percent of NYSEG's 2837 customers in the town of Shandaken, and 94 percent of their 2,196 customers in Shawangunk, are without power. The utility is not giving estimated power restoration times.

Donna Demeter, nursing supervisor at the Ulster County Department of Public Health, said that the decision to close shelters in Kingston, Ellenville, Saugerties and New Paltz on Tuesday was made by the Red Cross.

"We didn't put the shelters together, it was the American Red Cross. They called us and said they were closing them," she said.

Demeter said the Red Cross was not responsible for running the Belleayre shelter.

Asked what people should do if they are in need of shelter, Snyder said they should turn to their communities.

"Those people should be going to family and friends. We only close shelters after a need has been fulfilled, and when the need no longer exists, we close it," he said.

Muellerleile said that the town of Shandaken's fire houses were prepared to shelter town residents, if necessary.

"If anybody wants to come down, they can come to their nearest firehouse, we'll put them up," he said. "I would hope that other municipalities are doing the same."

Update, 9:30pm: The Town of Shandaken announced this evening: "To those who need heated shelter: Phoenicia Fire House will be open overnight. (rt. 214 Phoenicia 688-7315). Limited Supplies - Bring bedding, toiletries & any needed medication."