Storms tear through Goshen, Chester damaging a building, toppling trees

Many residents were using generators for most of Tuesday to offset the power outages.

Matt Trapani and Ben Nandy

Jul 4, 2023, 9:26 PM

Updated 431 days ago

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Some Orange County residents celebrated the Fourth of July holiday in the dark due to power outages from Monday’s stormy weather.
The storm was strong enough to uproot trees and peel the roof off a former school owned by the Chester School District.
“Felt like a train was coming right by my house,” says Kenny Chillemi, of Goshen.
Chillemi was at his home on Reservoir Road with his wife and granddaughter when the storm rocked his neighborhood. He says that it took only about a few minutes to cause all the damage.
“We weathered it. Now the clean-up,” he says.
Many residents were using generators for most of Tuesday to offset the power outages. Orange and Rockland Utilities customers just southwest of Route 17 were without power for more than 24 hours.
"We have no power, nothing so, we're using generators to keep it going ... If you go on this track over here, you'll see a lot more damage. Trees in peoples' houses over here. It came right through here I guess,” says Jeff Biesheuvel, of Goshen.
Orange and Rockland crews were making progress restoring power to a pocket of homes Tuesday night. Repairs will continue on Wednesday.