[Updated] Dry Ice Distribution to Continue Wednesday

Editor's note: As of about 1 p.m., officials say the dry ice available at HVCPA is all gone. They expect to receive another delivery later this afternoon, but a specific time is yet to be determined. Water is still on hand.

A couple hundred bags of dry ice moved off a palette in front of Hudson Valley Cerebral Palsy Association in Southeast Tuesday, and officials plan to repeat the process Wednesday.

Elected leaders with the Town of Southeast and the Village of Brewster arranged for the 15 Mount Ebo Road South building to function as a "comfort station" for folks looking to charge electronics, shower or warm up. They also used the location as the distribution point for the dry ice and water New York State Electric and Gas provides municipalities.

The first batch went fast. About 175 bags from a second afternoon batch—which 25 people gathered to wait for—was gone in two hours. Water did not move as quickly. A shortage was not anticipated Tuesday evening.

A handful of residents from other parts of Putnam stopped by, but officials are hoping folks will report to their respective town's comfort station. The County has announced locations through NY-Alert, the state's free communication system.

As of Tuesday afternoon, about 3,000 NYSEG customers in Southeast were without power. The company advises that those households should anticipate a lengthy wait for restoration.

Brewster Mayor Jim Schoenig and Southeast Councilman Bob Cullen said each residence is allotted one bag. Residents are required to sign in to receive the material.

About a dozen folks had stopped by to plug in laptops or phones, they told Patch. No one had used the showers. But two people did show up, separately, in the hopes of finding shelter for the night.

"A police officer told me," Karla Merritt, a Putnam Lake resident, said when asked where she heard the building was operating as an overnight shelter. "But Tony Hay told me there's no such thing, nothing in the whole county."

Merritt said she lost power at about 6 a.m. Because she had no phone, no lights and no heat, she was hoping to stay somewhere else once the evening arrived.

"I don't have a generator. I'll have to get one of those," she said as she waited for a ride. Merritt hoped she wouldn't face the same power outage predicament Wednesday. "Maybe we'll get lucky."