The Citizen

Monday came early this week for Cranebrook Tree Service.

The Auburn tree-removal company usually starts business at 8 a.m. But after a night when 50-plus mph winds were recorded in the region, service calls started rolling in at around 6 a.m.

“Basically, all of us were called in earlier (than usual),” said Teressa Klink, a Cranebrook employee. “Calls have been nonstop.”

Local businesses, residents, municipalities, power providers and others spent much of Monday cleaning up after a small sliver of Hurricane Ike's remains blew through the region the night before.

When the sun came up and the winds died down, thousands of people in Cayuga County were without power. And while the county avoided a major catastrophe, downed tree limbs resulted in damaged homes, vehicles and power lines throughout the area.

As of early Monday afternoon, Cranebrook fielded 25 emergency calls for incidents ranging from general debris cleanup to trees tearing through roofs, Klink said. This time of year, they usually receive about 20 calls a week, she said.

The company had two full-time crews responding to calls, and the work will not end with the day.

“There are too many jobs that came in to get it all done in one day,” Klink said.

According to the National Weather Service, winds from the storm reached 49 mph in Port Byron between 2 and 4 a.m. Skaneateles saw 46 mph winds, and unofficial records show winds in Auburn gusting at up to 43 mph, weather service officials reported Monday.

According to New York State Electric & Gas spokesperson Barbara Murdock, more than 3,800 customers in its Auburn division lost power during the storm's peak hours. As of 8:30 p.m., 1,422 area customers were still without power. The Auburn division includes parts of Cayuga and Onondaga counties.

Murdock said NYSEG expects power to be restored for most of these customers by late Tuesday evening.

“We're working around the clock,” she said.

Public Works crews in Auburn also worked around the clock, with Superintendent Jerry DelFavero receiving his first call at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday. Between two and three crews pulled 12-hour shifts to clear debris from the streets, DelFavero said. Between 10 and 12 city streets were closed for the work.

As of 4 p.m., stretches of Sherman Street, Case Avenue and Rock Avenue were still closed. While DelFavero said he expected streets to be open by today, the majority of cleanup work is still ahead. The city will be picking up brush for weeks, he said.

The wind damage could have been worse, DelFavero continued, especially if it was accompanied by more rain. But trees in the city can usually handle strong gusts for 30 or 45 minutes, DelFavero said.

“When you get into hours (of wind), anything can happen after that,” he said.

Many local schools were affected because of power outages and hazards produced by fallen limbs and power lines. Jordan-Elbridge Central schools started two hours late, Skaneateles Central School District saw a one-hour delay and students from A.J. Smith Elementary School in Union Springs were bussed to the high school until power was restored.

Two districts - Auburn Enlarged and Cato-Meridian - closed for the day.

Local emergency workers were busy early Monday morning, as well. The Auburn Fire Department received between 35 and 40 weather-related calls, with most of them coming between 1 and 4 a.m.

The most serious of those calls was an electrical fire cause by a fallen power line on Nelson Street near Seymour Street. AFD Capt. Jeff Dygert said the fire burned on the street between 3 a.m. and approximately 7:30 a.m. because crews had to wait until NYSEG turned the power off to extinguish the fire.

The county 911 emergency center received 99 calls over the night for weather-related incidents, most of which involved fallen trees and electrical wires, Administrator Denise Stayton reported. And Sheriff David Gould said patrols stayed “very busy” through Monday responding to calls and helping with cleanup, with the worst damage taking place in the north end of the county.

Weedsport fire crews had a few big calls, according to Assistant Chief David James of the Weedsport Fire Department. A woman was injured after being struck by and stuck under a tree limb for approximately 15 minutes and the department received a report of a house fire, James said.

The woman was conscious when she was transported to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, James said, and there was smoke but no evidence of an active fire at the second location.

“We still have houses and businesses without power,” James said late Monday afternoon.

Sennett resident Dale Look said her family was lucky to wake up Monday morning without any injuries or damage to their home. But her and her fiance's vehicles were not so lucky.

Multiple limbs fell from an old, large willow tree and caused damage to Dan Karlik's Ford Explorer and her Jeep sport utility vehicles.

Look's daughter woke her up at around 2:30 a.m. because of the loud noise from the wind. which she said sounded as if the porch was blowing off the house.

Both vehicles were buried underneath the debris, Look said. One large branch blew underneath the Ford and tore through the other side, damaging the vehicle's lower end, she said.

“It is just unbelievable the force it must have taken to do that,” Look said.

Karlik spent much of the morning clearing the debris, and a company was scheduled to come in the afternoon to haul more away. But it will take longer to clean everything up, she said.

Ironically, Look said they were planning to take the tree out within the next year. They had already removed two others, but held off on the willow tree because it was the most sturdy, she said.

“It had to be a very strong wind to do what it did,” Look said.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.