Rockland County’s volunteer first responders kept busy during coastal storm

Officials tell News 12 firefighters had about 120 incident calls from 11 p.m. Sunday to 3 p.m. Monday. Thirty-four calls were for downed wires. Twenty were for home or property flooding.

Diane Caruso

Dec 18, 2023, 11:15 PM

Updated 351 days ago

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The storm made it a busy day for first responders in Rockland County.
Officials tell News 12 firefighters had about 120 incident calls from 11 p.m. Sunday to 3 p.m. Monday.
A total of 34 were for wires down. A total of 20 were to pump water out of homes and/or properties.
There were a handful of water rescues, too, including on West Shore Drive in Stony Point where firefighters helped someone out of their car.
All firefighters in Rockland County are volunteers.
"We're impressed with the responses. They've had a lot of manpower and officers around since last night.” said Chris Kear, the director of Rockland’s Fire and Emergency Services. “It's a Sunday night, overnight into a Monday, where they either have school or work. So they're dedicating their time to their communities."
Route 9W in Stony Point near Katavolos Drive was closed for hours Monday because of a tree that fell on wires.
News 12 cameras captured the storm’s impact in Rockland, including Orange & Rockland crews replacing a broken pole on Monsey Boulevard in Monsey. A total of 160 customers lost power when the pole broke.
At the storm's peak, more than 2,000 customers in Rockland County were without power. 
The utility company says there's about 135 overhead line workers and dozens more mutual aid stepping in to get the lights back on in the county.