Winds stronger than 70 miles per hour caused widespread damage in the North Country, bringing down trees and power lines.

According to Jefferson County Sheriff Peter Barnett's office, nearly 20,000 National Grid customers in the county were without power on Wednesday. The National Grid outage map showed widespread outages around the county.

"Many roads are littered with branches and debris, and some are completely closed due to downed trees and power lines," read a release from the sheriff's office.

Travelers were asked to plan for longer travel times and "be aware of road hazards." Barnett's office says National Grid has worked throughout the night to restore power.

Utility crews helped those impacted by opening dry ice distrubution sites. With recovery efforts underway, many of those are now closed but some will reopen in Western New York Thursday.

“Oh my God, I just could not believe it, it was such a shock," said Cheryl Lawlor, a Watertown resident.

Lawlor has lived in her house for 45 years. Passionate about trees and nature, she has them all over her house. She says it was built in the 1800s, and a tree that fell was more than 200 years old.

“Well, my husband and I were watching TV in the front window there, not far from that tree," she said. "You could hear the wind howling, and all of a sudden, we heard a big thump. It was just a big thump.”

They ran outside and saw the tree in between her and her neighbor's house. She avoided devastating damage, but there was a small hole on her roof and fencing that needed to be fixed.

“Everything's fixable, so I’m just very, very happy and thankful," Lawlor said. "Feeling very blessed that it didn’t hit the main part of the house and come crashing down on us, because we probably wouldn’t be here if that happened.”

She’s one of the thousands affected.

“I’m not gonna replace any trees," she said. "So it's just gonna be a matter of getting National Grid here and getting the wires taken care of and my tree people to come back.”

Despite the unfortunate weather, she’s not planning on taking her other trees down, and is ready to put it behind her.

“You just have to go forward, you have to look at the positive," Lawlor said. "If you’re well and you’re healthy and not injured in any way, you just have to go forward.”