Gasport residents have been hit with a major ice storm that the community is still recovering from.
It began overnight on Saturday, December 21st when heavy rains that accounted for over an inch and a half of precipitation made the transformation to freezing rain. By 2:00 AM Sunday, there was a 1/3" -- and growing -- glaze on the trees that already began to take down limbs, which in turn took down power lines.
By 3:00 AM, most Gasport residents were without power as lines arced and transformers exploded, lighting the nighttime sky with an eery green glow.
Gasport, Terry's Corners, and Hartland fire crews were saddled with downed line, blocked roadway and flooded basement calls from 2:00 AM Sunday and the calls continue yet into Monday afternoon. Kudos to them for giving up their Sunday and Monday (during the holiday and NFL seasons no less!) to make everyone's lives better. Thank you!
National Grid had numerous crews out in force Sunday and Monday. A good many Gasport residents saw their power return Sunday, but over 500 homes in Royalton and Hartland still remain powerless on Monday, with National Grid estimating a return-to-service of 11:59 PM Monday night. Original estimates earlier this morning had the area pegged at noon Christmas Eve.
Gasport and Lockport got the worst of it, because we were the first to freeze and the very last to thaw: Temperatures were below freezing until 4:00 PM Sunday, while the rest of Western New York had a balmy afternoon -- Dansville hit 60 and Wellsville was at 55! So, while other areas saw the ice melt off by 9:00 AM, Gasport and Lockport were besieged by falling limbs all day long. The maximum thickness of ice reached 1/2"...that's a lot of weight for nearly any tree.
The damage has been extensive as many Gasport residents had limbs -- or whole trees -- fall on homes and cars or tear the electrical service off their homes.Yards are littered with limbs and there are likely many ruined basements from the floods.