As residents and work crews continued to clean up after Tuesday’s macroburst storm, which left trees uprooted, houses damaged, and most of Warwick without power, Mayor Scott Avedisian provided an update on the city’s condition.

“At the beginning, it was a little chaotic,” said Avedisian Saturday afternoon. “But 12 hours into everything, we were very organized, and ready to move, and had identified all the resources that we needed. Then it was a question of talking with National Grid, and Marisa [Albanese] and the team at National Grid were fantastic, every time we turned around and said ‘We need more crews.’”

At one point, there were 85 line crews and 45 tree crews solely in Warwick working for National Grid. Nearly all customers had power restored by Friday evening, with only a few isolated outages remaining.

“Then there were all of our crews, and Mayor Polisena sent a crew, and Mayor Grebien sent a crew, and I think that’s really gratifying to see that other communities that said they could help too,” added Avedisian. “Chief Armstrong and Col. McCartney were there, whether it be trying to organize traffic through all the major intersections, to making sure we have water going to people who don’t have any.”

The city opened a shelter at Warwick Veterans high school, available to those who needed a place to charge cell phone or to stay if necessary. Paul Salera, President/CEO of WestBay Community Action, also opened the agency’s WestBay Marketplace, a food pantry, and made emergency food supplies available for residents who are without power following Tuesday’s storm.

“It really worked, and it showed us that all the planning that we’ve done after all these other storms really comes into play,” said Avedisian. “I don’t think anyone expected when they saw that storm Tuesday morning the damage that was going to come because of it. Then the reports kept coming in, and we kept getting more and more, and it was in neighborhoods where we don’t usually see that kind of damage so it was even more difficult.”

The city’s Emergency Management Agency sent out an automated message around 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon asking residents and business owners to provide information which will be used to determine whether the storm’s damage will qualify for a disaster declaration.

Damage assessment forms will be available in the Warwick Emergency Management Agency’s mobile command vehicle, located at the following locations on Sunday Aug. 9 and Monday Aug 10: William Shields Jr. American Legion Post 43 located at 662 West Shore Road from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., John Brown Francis Elementary School at 325 Miantonomo Drive from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and St. Timothy’s Church at 1799 Warwick Ave. from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Forms will also be available Tuesday through Friday at Warwick Fire Department headquarters at 111 Veterans Memorial Drive from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., or on the city’s website at www.warwickri.gov.

“In some cases, the damage made no sense, for instance on five streets there’d be nothing, and on two streets every tree was down,” said Avedisian. “We had these pockets, where we had to move people all around the city. With the feeder lines from National Grid, it’s difficult when your neighbors have power and you don’t, it’s a tough situation to be in.”