By JAIME STUDD

Recorder News Staff

Mother Nature reared her head again Sunday night as an apparent tornado cut a path through parts of Montgomery and Schenectady counties, wreaking untold havoc on an already injured community.

Exactly one week after Irene brought historic flooding to the area, a powerful thunderstorm sparked what is believed to be a tornado. According to Steve DiRienzo, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albany, the twister is believed to have formed just south of the Thruway. It crossed the heavily-traveled roadway somewhere in the vicinity of the Mohawk rest area, before entering Cranesville, a hamlet in the town of Amsterdam. From there, it followed a northeast path through the county before ending in West Glenville.

Weather service policy dictates that a tornado remain unconfirmed until meteorologists can survey the damage, determine its path and estimate wind speeds. According to DiRienzo, a crew should arrive to tour the area first thing this morning.

Arguably the hardest hit, Cranesville was the scene of untold damage.

According to Dwight Schwabrow, the director of the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, the severe storm caused damage to numerous structures, falling trees and spreading debris across countless roadways.

Emergency management officials, with the help of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, the state police and the Cranesville, Hagaman and Beukendaal volunteer fire departments, spent much of the night on scene clearing debris from buildings and roadways and making the area safe in general.

Amsterdam town Supervisor Tom DiMezza said there were no reports of any injuries despite the severe destruction visited upon the scene.

"It's done a lot of devastation to the Cranesville area -- trees and cars and roofs torn off houses, it's just a mess," said DiMezza. "It's unbelievable the damage that's been done."

DiMezza said roads were closed throughout the area due to fallen trees and power lines. He issued a State of an Emergency declaration for Cranesville area and the town of Amsterdam, restricting all unnecessary travel in the affected area.

"We just appreciate all the workers," Dimezza continued. "These guys ... it's already been a long week for them, and this just added to the pain."

Included on the list of severely damaged structures were both Valentino's Restaurant and Cushing Stone, located across the Mohawk River on Route 5S in the town of Florida, according to DiMezza.

A National Grid spokesperson said power outages in the Mohawk Valley began at around 5:20 p.m. At its peak, Virginia Limmiatis said, 30,000 people in the region were without power, primarily in the Amsterdam and Gloversville area. By 9:00 p.m., that number had been reduced to just 18,000 customers.

Limmiatis originally said that the majority of customers were expected to have power return Sunday night by 8 p.m.; others were to receive power by 10 p.m. That prediction was later revised to say only that National Grid was expecting power to be restored late Sunday night after realizing the extended extent of the damage.

Back in Cranesville, emergency officials were also awaiting the arrival of National Grid. While the company had been to the scene to survey the damage, the trucks and equipment necessary to repair the many down lines were still en route as of late Sunday night. Once the power lines were taken care of, crews could then begin to remove the trees and limbs from the roadways on which they were entangled.

Residents of Robb Road spent much of Sunday night clearing fallen trees from their properties and roadway. Jennie Steel had just returned home from the Fonda Fair, where she had ridden out the severe thunderstorm that preceded the possible tornado. She wasn't home five minutes when she caught a glimpse of a tornado outside her window.

"I literally got in the house just in the nick of time," said Steel. "I grabbed my boyfriend, and we jumped in the bathtub."

Not far down the road from Steel, stands what's left of Josh Palma's home. The storm peeled away much of the siding and roof, leaving only rafters over a good portion of his second floor. Palma was outside hooking up his generator when the storm hit and was forced to seek safety in his garage.

"It seemed like a normal storm," said Palma. "Then it sounded like a freight train was coming through, and I just knew."

The line of severe storms also produced minor flooding and winds strong enough to take down trees and limbs all along the Route 30 corridor. The damage seemd to extend as far north as Perth.

The list of roads that remained closed as of late Sunday night include, Cranes Hollow Road, from Route 5 to McQuade Road, Route 5 from the city of Amsterdam line east to the Schenectady County line and Touareuna, Krutz, Swart Hill and Robb roads.

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