Update: 8:30 p.m.: According to Bedford police, things have quieted a bit with rush hour traffic over, but due to fallen trees and downed power lines, Route 35 is still closed between Route 22 and North Salem Road. Traffic is being diverted to Todd Road to the north. Route 22/Jay Street is also closed.
NYSEG's online outage map reports almost 200 residential streets in Bedford, Bedford Hills, Katonah and Pound Ridge without power, from town centers to the furthest borders. Their emergencies line reports "widespread damage and outages to 18,000 customers," as of 7:30 p.m.
First story, 5:00 p.m.
A sudden thunderstorm cracked open the skies around 5 p.m. in Bedford today, with strong winds, hail and rain causing havoc on streets and in homes.
At Route 35 and North Salem Road, a tree snapped and pulled down power wires. Traffic blocked up for over a mile as police scrambled to respond to weather-related emergencies around town. One driver, frustrated by the lack of turn-taking on the road, got out of his car and halted west-bound traffic to allow the east-bound cars to pass.
A tree had fallen on a house on Mt. Holly Road, with multiple emergency vehicles responding to the incident. No injuries were reported, according to Bedford police.
NYSEG reports customer outages throughout Bedford and Katonah.
The National Weather service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Westchester in effect through this evening.
Upload your photos, videos and comments with this story or email lisab@patch.com.
