Sarah Trafton and Melanie Lekocevic are reporting for Columbia-Greene Media thousands were left without power in Greene and Columbia counties Feb. 25, due to strong, gusty winds. At one point in the afternoon, almost 3,000 customers were without power in Greene and Columbia counties. In Philmont, Route 217 was closed from approximately 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. due to a downed tree, Philmont Fire Chief Mark Beaumont said. There was minimal damage to the property, Beaumont said, but some siding was pulled off a residence. Power was on at Columbia Memorial Health in Hudson, but the facility was prepared for a number of emergencies, spokesman Bill Van Slyke said. “We have a number of protocols in place in anticipation of any scenario,” he said. Local nursing homes were ready in the event of a power outage. Greene Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Catskill had a plan in place should the weather pose a threat, Administrator John Edwards said. The emergency disaster plan involves keeping patients away from windows, pulling blinds and bringing potential projectile-type objects inside, Edwards said. Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell, in Valatie, has a back-up generator that will last up to 48 hours and emergency plans in place, Assistant Administrator Joshua Held said. Late Monday, hundreds of Central Hudson customers in Greene County were without power; the largest number in Catskill and Cairo. The number of electrical customers in the dark in Columbia County was much lower, with the larger clusters of outages in New Lebanon and Taghkanic. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.