Recovering from storm damage in Mendon

MENDON, N.Y. (WHEC) — Crews have restored power in Mendon after rainy weather ripped down six poles along Boughton Hill Road.

RG&E and National Grid have fixed the power outages in Monroe County caused by the Wednesday evening storm. Our First Alert meteorologist Alex Bielfeld reported that crews have fixed many of the utility poles that got knocked down. Boughton Hill Road has reopened.

On Wednesday, a driver had to be rescued after wires fell on top of her car. It was almost like a domino effect, one power line came down and five others came down with it. Emergency crews say the driver is ok. Joe Organ, a neighbor, says this has never happened before.

When I asked him if this ever happened, he said "Never. Matter of fact I’ve never even been without electric, I mean maybe temporarily, but, not like this."

Heavy rain came and went, but left behind hefty damage in the town of Mendon. Six utility poles came crashing down.

"I’ve never even seen one down. Now there’s what four, five, Organ said, shocked.

Wires were dangling across Boughton Hill Road and West Bloomfield Road. Some landed on top of a Black SUV that got caught right in the middle when the poles fell.

First Asst. Chief Tyler Zavitz, Honeoye Falls Fire, told News10NBC, "When we arrived the vehicle was under some high tension lines."

Fire officials say the woman was in her car with the windows up and she had turned the car off. They had to walk her through the rescue over the phone while they waited for utility crews to cut the power.

"She was as safe as she could be right where she was, it was essentially a sit-and-wait game until the electric company got here and were able to confirm the lines were de-energized and help get her out of the vehicle and get her vehicle secured," Zavitz said.

Emergency crews say scary situations like this can happen when you least expect it, so knowing what to do can save a life.

"The best advice we can give is just to stay in the vehicle, you’re well insulated in your vehicle as long as there is no imminent danger like a fire or anything that’s the advice we give, is to stay put and wait it out until we can verify that all the lines are de-energized," Zavitz added.