CLAVERACK–Town Supervisor James Keegan declared a State of Emergency at 4:30 p.m. August 21 when a severe thunderstorm hit that town and other parts of Columbia County.

The emergency wasn’t lifted until the morning of August 24.

Storm related calls started pelting the County 911 Center around 2 p.m., with a majority of callers in Claverack reporting wires and trees down, flooded basements and roads. Fire departments throughout the county were dispatched to 52 calls during the night.

Three calls were for electrical wires down on occupied cars. Four calls reported trees on homes. A tree fell on a home at Jutkofsky’s Mobile Home Park on Stone Mill Road in Claverack and a woman was trapped inside until Greenport firefighters freed her. A structure fire due to a lightning strike was reported on County Route 25 in Stuyvesant Falls.

A report of smoke in a residence on New Concord Road in East Chatham turned out to be a desk lamp that exploded because of a nearby lightning strike. A lightning strike to the roof of the John Funk Village Apartments on Firehouse Road was investigated by Stottville firefighters.

Many roads in Claverack were impassable due to trees and wires down. Routes 9H and 23 were not fully re-opened until 3 p.m. August 22.

National Grid dealt with power outages, restoring the last of its customers on August 23.

Firefighters from Claverack, Greenport, Livingston, Hudson, East Chatham, Red Rock, Canaan, Lebanon Valley, Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Falls, Stockport, Stottville, Churchtown, Mellenville, Philmont, Austerlitz, Ghent, Chatham and Germantown responded to storm related calls, according to information provided by the 911 Center.