Tropical Storm Irene Batters Schroon

Roads were closed, trees and their branches fell, and homes lost power -- but for the most part, Schroon dodged most of Irene's punch.

Upwards of at least 4 inches of rain fell over the course of the day and winds felled trees on the eastern shore near  Three Bears and Sandy Piont. For a while Charely Hill Road and Hoffman Road were closed due to downed trees.Tipster Courtney wrote us late last night:

"On south end of lake trees and power lines down on east shore by Sandy Point. North of ADK tree limbs hanging on power lines near (?) Red Wing. Floating dock and 3 barrels floated by east sbore and landed at 3 Bears. 1 boat loose but snagged and seems (?) Secure just north of 3 bears. 

As of this writing, there are many Schroon lakers without power on both sides of the lake. Some folks lost power as early as 9.30 am, but the town of Schroon managed to get through most of the day, until the lights went out at around 6 pm. 

"We got the power back on at around 3am," Councilman Roger Friedman said today. Friedman praised the well co-ordinated efforts of the the Schroon Lake Volunteer Fire Department and the Town's Highway Maintanence Department and National Grid.

"I was at the Highway Garage yesterday around 4 pm and I was impressed by how the precautions we took paid off, and how the three departments were co-ordinating efforts to clear roads and trees.

Yesterday, many folks used Twitter to tweet about what they were seeing and doing. And despite power outages, North Country Rambler Joe Steinger found humor in the day:

Power off and on in Schroon Lake #Adirondacks. Wind picking up now. On a generator, so if your power fails, bring all ice cream to me! 

If you have reports of damage or photos of Irene's destruction -- or found something in the lake that needs to returned to its rightful owner  -- email us at schroonlaker@me.com.