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Via NY-Alert: All lanes of Route 9W in Esopus, near the intersection with Black Creek Road, are closed for utility work. According to the alert, the road will be closed for up to 6 hours.

An employee at Ulster County Emergency Communications told the Watershed Post that utility lines in the area were on fire, and that the Esopus Fire Department was responding. We will update this post when we know more.

The Freeman reports that as of 4:25pm, about 7,700 Central Hudson customers were without power, including 2,022 in Ulster County and 452 in Greene County.

Update: The road was cleared around 6:10pm.

Update, 5pm: Ulster and Greene County are under a flash flood warning:

Locations In The Warning Include But Are Not Limited To Windham And Prattsville Radar Estimates And Actual Gage Readings Indicating 2 To 4 Inches Of Rain Has Fallen Across Portions Of Greene And Mainly Western Ulster County. Additional Rainfall Of 1 To 3 Inches Is Possible. Rapid Runoff From Heavy Rainfall Will Lead To Flash Flooding.

Sullivan County has a flash flood warning as well:

The National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a wind advisory for the western Catskills region, from 11am until 8pm. Forecasts are calling for sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 40 or 50 miles per hour, possibly greater at high elevations.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are also in the forecast for the region, and could dump as much as two or three inches in some areas. With the region feeling the effects of a long summer drought, a little rain isn't a bad thing -- but watch out for downed trees and power lines on the road this afternoon and evening.

It's just one lane, but it makes a world of difference to Greene County mountaintop residents: The Route 23 bridge across the Schoharie Creek in Prattsville is back in service once more. 

The bridge was abruptly closed to traffic on Monday, September 10 after a state inspector noticed a fracture in a bottom truss.

Town supervisor Kory O'Hara told the Watershed Post that the bridge was reopened to one lane of traffic on the evening of Friday, September 14. With the bridge out of commission, anyone looking to get from one side of Route 23 to the other had to take a lengthy alternate route.

"It was about a fifteen-mile detour," O'Hara said.

Prattsville residents are probably relieved it wasn't longer. When the bridge was closed last week, officials at the state Department of Transportation originally told the Daily Mail that the repairs could take anywhere from "two days to two months."