NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage

By Eric Durr | New York National GuardNovember 4, 2019

NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
1 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Master Sgt. Dave Taylor assigned to the 174th Attack Wing, Syracuse, New York is driving a Kubota Skid Steer that will help push debris away from roadways. This is in response to the New York National Guard activation Gov. Andrew Cuomo initiated on N... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
2 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. Dave Paronett assigned to the 174th Attack Wing, Syracuse, New York operates a chainsaw to clear fallen trees in Herkimer county. This is in response to the New York National Guard activation Gov. Andrew Cuomo initiated on November 1 for d... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
3 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Members of the 109th Airlift Wing roll out with humvees and debris cleaning equipment in support of the flooding in upstate New York. Over 200 members of the New York National Guard will receive missions this morning and work the day across Herkimer ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
4 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to the New York Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion 142nd Aviation remove debris from a road in Herkimer County on Nov. 2, 2019. The battalion deployed a general purpose response force to the county as part of the 200 Soldiers and A... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
5 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Members of the 109th Airlift Wing roll out with humvees and debris cleaning equipment in support of the flooding in upstate New York. Over 200 members of the New York National Guard will receive missions this morning and work the day across Herkimer ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
6 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
7 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing discuss the best way to move debris blocking a road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The Airmen were participating in the New York National Guard's Operation November Winds, whi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
8 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing remove equipment from a truck bed as they prepare to remove debris from a blocked road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The Airmen were supporting Operation November Winds, the ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
9 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – An Airman from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing figures out how to remove a fallen power line from the fallen debris blocking a road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The Airman was participating in Operation November Winds... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
10 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – New York Air National Guard Airmen from the 17th Attack Wing removes debris from a blocked road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. Heavy winds on October 31/ Nov.1 knocked down trees and rains flooded streams. The Airmen were in support of Ope... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
11 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – An Airman from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing removes debris from a blocked road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The road was blocked when a storm swept through the region on October 31-Nov. 1. The Airman was supporting... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
12 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Airmen from the 174th Attack Wing chainsaw fallen trees to help with the removal of debris from a blocked road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The Airmen were supporting Operation November Winds, the New York National Guard mission to provi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
NY National Guard responds to major flooding, wind damage
13 / 13 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing discuss the best way to move debris blocking a road in Herkimer County, N.Y. on Nov. 2, 2019. The Airmen were participating in the New York National Guard's Operation November Winds, whi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HERKIMER, N.Y. - The New York National Guard mobilized 210 Soldiers and Airmen in response to heavy rains and winds that damaged roads, flooded towns and killed one person Halloween night in upstate New York's Mohawk Valley.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo directed the Guard mobilization after winds of up to 60 miles per hour and heavy rain hit the watershed leading into the Mohawk River.

"We saw rain totals of 3.6 inches in Oneida County, 5.2 inches in Herkimer County, and then 5.6 inches in Hamilton County. This created significant flooding in areas downstream, in Utica, in Rome, in Herkimer, in Dolgeville, and a number of other communities," said New York State Emergency Operations Director Michael Kopy.

There were 240,000 residences and businesses without power at the height of the storm.

In Herkimer County, one man was killed when he drove his car into a flooded area, got out, and was swept away by the rising waters. A significant section of the village of Dolgeville flooded, and residents were evacuated from parts of the Town of Frankfort.

New York National Guard troops and equipment helped local governments cope with the post-storm cleanup.

On Friday, Nov. 1, Soldiers and Airmen mobilized at three air bases and several armories. Teams under the leadership of Col. Robert Charlesworth, commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, arrived at the Herkimer County Emergency Operations Center in the Village of Herkimer.

New York National Guard leaders mobilized debris clearance teams from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse, N.Y., the 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia, N.Y., and the 105th Airlift Wing in Newburg, N.Y. The Army National Guard's 204th Engineer Battalion in Binghamton, N.Y. sent an engineer response team equipped with front end loaders, bulldozers and dump trucks.

General response forces -- troops and Humvees, LMTVs and other trucks -- used for debris clearance and traffic control were dispatched from the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade, the 53rd Troop Command, the 109th Airlift Wing and the 174th Airlift Wing.

Major General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, directed the teams to move at 6 a.m. Nov. 2 and was at the marshaling location in Herkimer when the troops arrived.

A 39-Soldier team from the 204th Engineer Battalion cleaned up debris left when the East Canada Creek flooded parts of Dolgeville.

The river breached a berm the Army Corps of Engineers built in the 1930s, said 1st Lt. Andrew Campany, the officer in charge of the team working on the project.

"From there it pretty much destroyed the foundations of 16 houses and went right through town, sweeping cars away," he said.

The fast-moving water left rocks throughout the flooded area after the water receded, Campany said. The engineers brought in two bulldozers and other equipment to rebuild the embankment along East Canada Creeks and remove the debris.

Soldiers and Airmen cleared debris and repaired roads in the towns of Frankfort, Newport and Ohio Nov. 2-3.

With the immediate response handled, some general-purpose response forces were released Nov. 3-4, while Army and Air National Guard engineering elements remained to manage tasks that required their specialized training and equipment.

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