Published: July 17, 2008 02:37 am            

WEATHER: Fast-moving storm causes area damage

A fast-moving thunderstorm swept through eastern Niagara County on Wednesday morning, causing brief power outages and drenching the area with rain and hail.

Sheriff’s Capt. Steven Preisch was out on the road just before 9 a.m., writing tickets on Campbell Boulevard, as the storm loomed.

“You could just see the sky getting darker and blacker,” Preisch said.

The storm hit with a quick intensity, bringing with it heavy rain, lightning and some hail.

The sheriff’s department began receiving several calls of power outages across the southeastern part of the county, even as the department, itself, lost power, Preisch said.

Power also went out next door at the Niagara County Jail, but the generator power quickly switched on.

“For a short time, we were working off generator power ... it worked just like it’s supposed to,” Preisch said. “At no time was there a complete power failure.”

At the Niagara County Courthouse, employees used flashlights to navigate the stairwell after the building went dark about 9 a.m.

With the metal detector down, people coming into the courthouse waited in the lobby and watched the storm rage outside.

Power wasn’t restored to the courthouse until about 10 a.m.

A similar situation unfolded at Lockport City Court, but power there was restored within a half hour.

City of Lockport police and fire crews responded to the Bewley Building about 9:15 a.m. after an alarm indicated the building had been struck by lightning.

It was a false alarm, but Bewley Building employees were evacuated as the LFD used a ladder truck to check the top of the building.

Employee Ann Branch said she was outside taking pictures of the rain when the fire trucks showed up.

“There must have been a strike on the rooftop, and they thought the building was on fire,” Branch said.

Lockport police directed traffic at the corner of Market and Main streets, where the traffic lights were flashing every color — red, yellow and green — all at once.

By 9:45 a.m., the storm had cleared.

“As quickly as it came, it passed through,” Preisch said.

According to Accuweather, Lockport received 0.33 inches of rain during the morning hours, with winds gusting up to 24 mph.

“It was charged,” Preisch said. “It certainly had the potential. Anytime you experience something so intense like that, the potential is always there for limbs falling into the roadway, for car accidents with the real heavy downpour so people can’t see ... traffic lights being out and causing accidents.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.

        

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