Rockland highway crews clear storm damage while preparing for next round of weather
Rockland County Highway Department crews removed downed trees and cleared catch basins after weekend storms caused damage across the county.
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The Rockland County Highway Department spent Sunday and Monday cleaning up storm damage while also preparing for the possibility of additional severe weather.
News 12 checked in with crews who worked to remove damaged and hazardous trees throughout the county after storms moved through the area Saturday night.
"These storms come in real fast and create a lot of damage," said Bill June, foreman with the Rockland County Highway Department.
On Ridge Road in New City, June and his crew worked to remove a damaged tree limb that had snapped during the storm and hung over the road.
"There's a potentially hazardous limb that's snapped off during this storm. We're going to remove it so cars and vehicles and people don't get hit by things like that," June said.
During the cleanup operation, a worker named Bruce was up in a bucket truck to cut down sections of the tree, while other crew members fed fallen debris into a wood chipper.
June said crews were also out working on Sunday and continued moving throughout Rockland to address storm damage.
"We go from job to job today. Cleaning em all up," he said.
According to Rockland County officials, at least 14 trees that they know of came down as a result of Saturday night's storm.
Due to the extent of the damage, two highway tree-cleaning crews were deployed throughout the county when they typically have one team handling that task.
At the same time, other highway department employees worked on storm preparation efforts.
News 12 caught a pair of workers clearing catch basins along Old Route 304 in New City to help water flow freely ahead of the next storm.
Storm damage was also reported at the News 12 office in West Nyack and a tree fell across Blauvelt Road near the Sickletown Road intersection in Pearl River.
