BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Windy weather from the storm system that spurred the deadly Midwest tornadoes knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in western New York on Saturday.
The National Weather Service reported gusts of more than 70 mph (113 kph) in several counties, including Erie, Niagara and Genesee. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) were forecast for the New York City area.
Trees and utility wires were reported down. In Buffalo, a tree fell on two houses and another fell on a vehicle, the Buffalo News reported. A person in the vehicle was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, officials said.
There were no immediate reports of other serious injuries.
National Grid reported nearly 100,000 outages Saturday night, including more than 41,000 in Erie and Niagara counties.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she ordered emergency assets deployed, including generators to run traffic signals, in western and northern parts of the state. New York’s emergency operations center was activated to monitor conditions.
A travel advisory that was put in place for Niagara County on Saturday has been lifted.
The advisory was put in place to caution drivers ahead of the extreme weather conditions. Some traffic lights were out and trees and power lines were came down as a result.
Meanwhile, the Weather Service said several cities in New York saw record high temperatures on Saturday. Temperatures hit 67 in both New York City and Buffalo, breaking records set in 1971 and 1899, respectively.
Much cooler temperatures were expected Sunday.
To view the National Grid outage map by county, click here. To report an outage to National Grid, click here.