Colonie neighbors clean up after Wednesday’s storm causes damage

Neighbors in Colonie have a mess on their hands Thursday night after Wednesday evening’s storms brought down trees and knocked out power.

People in Colonie say they heard a bad storm, and when it was safe enough to come outside, they found lots of damage in their yards.

"See, you can see, the other one there. That got blown down," said Mike Fusco, who lives on Aldershoot Road, showing NewsChannel 13 the damage.

Fusco says it all happened so quickly, he didn’t have much time to think.

"What I experienced last night was something I’ve never seen before. Whatever came through, I wasn’t expecting it. We came back from grocery shopping, we pull in our driveway, the clouds look funny," he explained.

Fusco says he felt like a tornado was coming though as the storm passed over his house.

"It was like, ‘boom.’ And it was scary. I’ve never seen it like that, as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen it like that," he said.

In the storm’s path, dozens of healthy trees now blanketing the woods behind his house, and Fusco’s left wondering how this all happened.

"I just really would love to know what happened there," Fusco said.

As for what to do with all the downed trees, neighbors say they’re still trying to figure it out. They’re estimating it would cost thousands of dollars to get them removed, so Fusco is offering to plant trees in front of the damage visible from his neighbor’s house.

"I think I might help Tony plant some trees out here, so he doesn’t have to look at these huge roots. Because for us to get these all taken out of here, it’ll cost him a fortune," he said.