STORM REACTION IN AVA: "You could see the walls swaying in and out!"

AVA- Mark Thornton has lived his entire life atop Webster Hill since birth and for when it comes to those storms last weekend that unleashed havoc throughout the Central New York area, he says he has "never seen anything like it."

Just down the road, Brittany Thornton said the storm early Sunday, June 22 was so vicious that she could see the walls of her house sway. "You could hear the sound of, like a freight train," she told us. "It was just crazy!" Be sure to listen to our latest on-air segment here:

To show how intense the winds were during that storm, a 300-lb dog-house was tossed at-least 10-yards from its original location at Brittany's home. Thornton told us it takes more than two full grown men to move it.   

As of this publication, National Grid officials say they have successfully restored power to over 90,000 customers. 

For folks still without power throughout Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, officials expect service to be restored by late Tuesday night. 

“This storm created an extraordinary amount of damage to our communities and to our electric system,” said Zach Butcher, National Grid’s Director of Electric Maintenance.

“We sustained more than 120 broken poles, which is a labor-intensive repair for our crews, in addition to downed wires, damaged transformers, and uprooted trees on our power lines. Cleanup, reconstruction and restoration has been and will continue to be time consuming, and our crews will remain out there in full force to bring service back to customers as quickly and safely as possible.”

“No one wants to be without electricity, especially during these high temperatures,” Butcher added.

“We recognize the challenge and discomfort this causes our customers. Our crews are doing everything they can to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, and we thank our customers for their continued support and patience.”

National Grid will distribute dry ice, frozen ice and bottled water on Tuesday, June 24 at the following locations and times:

Clark Mills: Clark Mills Volunteer Fire Dept.; 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Rome: 207 N. James St., adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park; 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Customers are asked to bring a cooler or paper grocery bags to transport dry ice to their homes, and company personnel will provide information about the proper handling of dry ice.

Storm damage image by Brian Trainor.