SULLIVAN — People throughout Sullivan County braced for an early winter storm on Thursday last week, as parts of Sullivan County saw more than 10 inches of accumulation.

When it was all over by mid-morning Friday, emergency services had responded to hundreds of calls for disabled vehicles throughout the region.

The Governor's office closed down Route 17 through Sullivan and parts of other counties on Thursday night from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m the next morning. Multiple vehicles and tractor trailers had slid off the road, backing up traffic for hours.

“Someone from the Governor's Office called and said they were closing parts of Route 17, but it included all of Sullivan [County],” said Undersheriff Eric Chaboty.

According to Chaboty, Forestburgh and Lumberland were some of the worst affected areas. “There were DPW trucks stuck there and one of our deputies was stuck there … That was a bad spot,” said Chaboty.

He said another Sheriff's car was stuck on the Pleasant Street Extension for two hours before a Village of Monticello plow truck could dig them out.

Many commuters dealt with the worst conditions as they drove home from work around rush hour.

“It was just a light dusting at first and then it really started coming down heavy at 4 p.m. According to Chaboty, the Sheriff's Office responded to a dozen disabled vehicles, five collisions and 11 weather related alarms.

Getting out of work at 5 p.m., County Department of Family Services employees were delayed in getting home due to a head on collision.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday a 2007 Dodge Caliber was traveling on Sunset Lake Road in the Town of Liberty when it crossed over into the oncoming lane and struck a 2010 Dodge Caravan head on. According to New York State Police Public Information Officer Steven Nevel, the accident was caused by unsafe speed and slippery pavement. “No one was injured, they were just driving a little too fast [for those conditions,]” said Nevel.

It was a trend State Police witnessed throughout Troop F, which covers five counties including Sullivan. According to Nevel, within a 24-hour period State Police responded to 340 disabled vehicles, 79 motor vehicle accidents and 10 personal injury calls.

According to E-911 Coordinator Alex Rau, the county's 911 center received hundreds of calls between 3 p.m. and midnight. “It was a pretty steady night for us, that's for sure … we ended up calling in some extra staff because the call volume was excessive”

We saw that regionally too, because during these type of storms we work in tandem with our neighboring counties. Orange and Ulster Counties saw their 911 centers quite inundated as well.”

According to Rau, the majority of those calls were related to motor vehicle accidents, although they also had a number of routine medical calls. “The majority of them were just cars that couldn't move or were stuck and needed to be towed. Probably the biggest congestion areas were 17b and state route 17 in the Wurtsboro area.”

Traffic issues were compounded by the volume of commuters headed home, but police advise motorists to stay off the road in future inclement weather situations.

“If you absolutely have to go out, leave plenty of time to get to your destination. If you can avoid going, don't go at all,” said Chaboty.