Steuben officials not yet sure of storm damage total

Photo by Steuben OES Director Tim Marshall

BATH -- Preliminary estimates for damages to Steuben County roads during a thunder storm that dropped a reported 2-4 inches of rain in an hour around 8 p.m. Friday night in the southern regions of the county are not yet complete. But the sheer power of the rain which raged over river banks to cross roadways and fields is undeniable: Roads carved into rubble, trees downed and homes flattened by the force of rushing water. County Public Works Commissioner Vince Spagnoletti told the county Legislature Monday CR 127 in the Town of Woodhull and CR 85 in the town of Tuscarora sustained the most damage Friday night. County Route 127 from Woodhull to Osceola, Pa. is now open to local traffic, Spagnoletti told legislators. However, 1 mile of CR 85 from Blend Road in the Town of Tuscarora to Elkland, Pa. remains closed, Repairs to CR 127 are underway but CR 85 repairs are expected to take a month to complete, according to Spagnoletti. The costs of repairs will be paid for through the $189,000 previously earmarked this year for new blacktop shoulders on CR 122 in the Town of Prattsburgh, he said. with travelers directed to detours on county routes 100 and 101; or 49 and 50 to Corning, he said.
The Town of Lindley, which bore the brunt of the storm, is being assisted under a shared services agreement with the state Department of Transportation (DOT). Spagnoletti credited the state DOT and county road crews from the Woodhull, Caton and Curtis shops for working through Friday night and all day Saturday to make roads passable from Lindley west to the Town of West Union. Originally, travel was restricted on a dozen county roads in the south in the aftermath of the storm. The county Office of Emergency Services and emergency responders also monitored the situation on scene and with updated reports to the local media.