49°
Approximately 20 National Guard troops, along with an array of heavy equipment, arrived in town Friday night and were deployed to the Vista fire station, where they will be housed.
“We are working on getting their equipment in here and getting them housed up,” Deputy Supervisor Peter DeLucia said Saturday afternoon. “They will be here for as long as we need them."
DeLucia said the Guard’s main task will be to work in conjunction with the Highway Department and NYSEG by helping to saw up downed trees and clean up debris to unblock roads. He said they are starting in Vista first – one of the hardest hit areas – to help Lewisboro reconnect to Pound Ridge.
The Guard is surveying the rest of the community and triaging neighborhoods to figure out how to prioritize its efforts.
“We are looking at the areas that are most dangerous and where we need to get emergency vehicles through,” DeLucia said. “We still have a lot of roads that are impassable. The Guard will go through and figure it out. Lake Katonah is very bad and so is the Waccabuc area. Then there’s Goldens Bridge."
DeLucia said the town is grateful for the assistance.
“We are thankful for them being here and all the help they’ve been giving us,” he added. "That fact that the National Guard is here speaks volumes about the nature of the emergency.”
DeLucia had praise for town employees and volunteers who have been working throughout the post-Sandy crisis.
“The Highway Department, the fire departments – everyone has come together working around the clock,” he said.
He said working with NYSEG has been challenging.
“We have been bending over backward to get NYSEG to do its job,” he said. "The NYSEG crews want to work, and they’ve been great, but it’s the way the company has allocated its resources [that's the problem].”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Lewisboro and receive free news updates.
