High winds tore through Ellenville, Wawarsing and surrounding areas on Friday evening, killing 61-year-old Robert O. Merrihew. Mr. Merrihew was sitting in an apartment, watching television at 8510 Route 209 in Wawarsing when powerful winds sent half of a 50-foot double-trunk pine tree crashing into the structure early Friday afternoon. The tree struck and killed Mr. Merrihew.

Mr. Merrihew, who had worked at the Fallsview some time ago and was currently living in Maine, had returned to the area to spend the holidays and tend to some medical affairs; he experienced pain in his legs due to muscular dystrophy.

The building Merrihew was staying in was a two-story house that had been subdivided into a series of apartments. The building is owned by Horst Waershing and the apartment that was damaged was rented by Raymond Geoghegan.

At the time of the incident, Mr. Geoghegan was in the bedroom portion of the apartment, browsing on the internet while Mr. Merrihew watched television. When the tree came down, Mr. Geoghegan was unable to enter the living room because the tree's branches had blocked the room's entryway. Mr. Geoghegan was not injured.

Mr. Geoghegan and Mr. Merrihew had become friends while both were working for the Fallsview resort in the 1990s. Neighbors that occupied other apartments within the house recall feeling the house shake when the tree came through the ceiling.

Ellenville's First Aid Squad, Ellenville's Fire Department and Wawarsing's building code officer as well as the New York State Police all responded to the incident.

Friends remembered Mr. Merrihew as someone who always had a good sense of humor and a smile on his face. He was said to love classic television shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Gunsmoke."

Though no one else was injured by the tragic accident, all of the structure's occupants had to find alternative lodging because the building's gas and electricity were shut off.

* * * The high winds that caused the tragedy on Route 209 preceded the rains and near constant lightning that lit up the sky for hours.

But the Route 209 incident, while certainly the saddest of the day, was one of many dangerous situations encountered by area citizens on Friday. Police reports included trees falling on moving cars, though no injuries were reported.

In addition to the falling debris, parts of the town of Wawarsing, as well as other communities up and down the Route 209 corridor, reported a loss of power due to the storm's violent winds.

Ellenville Village Manager Elliott Auerbach said that the village had faired very well in the high winds. Although he would not say it was the only reason, Mr. Auerbach said that the village's use of, "pre-emptive branch clearing," was a big help in preventing structural damage or power loss to village residents. Auerbach identified the southwestern corner of the village, near where Mr. Merrihew was killed, as the only part of the village that suffered any major problems. Mr. Auerbach did express much appreciation for the responsiveness of the village's Department of Public Works.

The Town of Wawarsing's Superintendent of Highways Tom Slater identified about six or seven trees that he and his crew had to handle and described the damage as relatively minor.

Mr. Slater made it clear that Route 209, due to the fact that it is a state road, fell under the supervision and care of the New York State Department of Transportation.

This was the second time in six months where the Ellenville-Wawarsing area has been hit hard by violent winds. On the morning of Saturday, July 22 2006, a weather phenomenon described as a "microburst" ripped through the area uprooting trees, knocking out power to a large number of local residents and generating a significant amount of property damage.

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