CHENANGO COUNTY - On Saturday, July 18 the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch. What followed were high winds, rain, and lightning, causing damage and creating power outages across the county. Countless reports of down trees and severe property damage were seen across social media.

According to the George Hunstmeyer from Chenango County Office of Emergency Services (OES) in just a four hour window 96 emergency 911 calls were received across the county.

“We had multiple agencies responding from fire departments, DPW's and highway departments,” he said.

Luckily, no deaths or injuries have been reported. Most roads were closed are now open except for one in McDonough according to Huntsmeyer.

“The two biggest areas that got a lot of damage were around the City of Norwich area, and the southern tip of Chenango County around Afton and Greene,” said Huntsmeyer.

The City of Norwich was hit particularly hard by the storm, with officials issuing a travel advisory for residents due to the damage caused.

City of Norwich Mayor Robert Jeffrey said, “After the storm finished up, we immediately declared a travel advisory. We wanted the city's department of public works, police department, fire department, as well as other agencies like NYSEG to be able to operate within the city's confines without additional traffic.”

Safety was a major concern for the city as they responded to concerns. According to Jeffrey the Norwich fire department responded to over 30 calls related to the storm. There were multiple power lines down and trees fallen on property in several different areas of the city.

“The city operated as effectively and efficiently as it could. We were prepared. We had launched our incident command. We had a firehouse. We had our emergency management personnel, Bill Edwards,” said Jeffrey who credits the city's response to Edwards from the City of Norwich Emergency Management Office.

NYSEG crew members have been out during and since the storm, restoring power to the thousands that lost service on Saturday. At the time of writing there are still 1330 customers without power in Chenango County, mostly in Greene and Smithville.

As fallen trees and debris remain, Jeffrey says the City of Norwich will be offering an extended storm cleanup through the Department of Public works (DPW) with more details to be announced later today. NYSEG in it's announcements reminds residents to stay at least 30 feet from a downed power line.

Huntsmeyer at OES said, “If there's still a hazard I would urge people to call the 911 dispatch center and they will dispatch the appropriate agency for that.”