By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A squall raged through the North Country Wednesday night that an official with the Massena Electric Department (MED) said left about 2,000 village customers without power from around 8:35 p.m.

Power crews were able to restore power to about half of them within 90 minutes and the vast majority by midnight, according to MED Superintendent Andy McMahon

“It was the largest customer impact we’ve had from a storm in six years,” McMahon said. “That was a big one for us. We’re still doing a lot of work here at 11 a.m. (Thursday morning).”

“In the case of a thunderstorm or windstorm it was the worst in a few years, but not like it was overbearing,” Massena Fire Chief Thomas C. Miller said.

Paul Sisson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Burlington, said wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour were recorded at Massena International Airport.

According to Miller, 38 firefighters responded to 24 calls that began around 6:30 p.m. with the storm’s initial impact; his department was not back in service until 1 a.m. Thursday. McMahon said his department had about a dozen people repairing numerous downed and damaged power lines throughout the town and village plus a contracted tree removal crew from Putney’s Tree Service.

Village of Massena Public Works Office Superintendent Hoss Fayad said he had eight of his crew removing trees Wednesday night; he required a crew of six on Thursday to finish the job.

“The primary issue we’re contending with are limbs that broke off of trees,” according to Fayad, adding that several complete trees uprooted, including one at Grove Street and Laurel Avenue that toppled onto a house.

“My instinct is with the wet soil and these heavy rains – I think the root systems were very weak … it was a very significant, violent storm,” Fayad stated.

“This was major; widespread trees down in multiple locations throughout the community,” McMahon said. “When a tree comes down on main lines, it takes us a while to work through those problems.”

Several streets had to be blocked off or have traffic controlled by either state troopers or Massena Village Police due to fallen trees or downed power lines. Miller cited a telephone pole that snapped in half on Andrews Street. McMahon said there was a live arcing power line on South Raquette River Road. He added that Town Ridge Road was blocked for a significant period of time and North Raquette River Road had a “partial detour.” Fayad noted that a “big limb on a line” on outer Andrews Street at Dover Street caused the roadway to be closed; a tree limb on a line at Bridges Avenue and Allen Street caused the road to be cordoned off; police had to manually control traffic at East Orvis and Bailey streets because of a dead traffic signal.

“It’s one of those things that Mother Nature throws at us from time to time,” Fayad said. “Thankfully we have a great department.”

He also lauded the Massena and Louisville volunteer fire departments for a swift response and Massena and state police for controlling traffic so first responders could focus on getting infrastructure up and running.

“We appreciate the community being patient with us” in light of the high volume of calls, Miller said.

Sisson said the storm started in Canada, just southwest of Ottawa and worked its way in an easterly direction along the St. Lawrence River. He said it was at peak intensity right before it crossed to the U.S. near Waddington.

“The storm was much more intense on the Canadian side of the river,” Sisson noted.