One Week After Sandy, Power Restorations Ongoing

A week after the massive storm named Sandy tore through the tri-state area, thousands of residents remain without power.

NYSEG reported Sunday night that more than 3,100 front line and support personnel are on the job to restore power as quickly as possible.

“Because of the widespread damage from the storm, it has been a challenge to secure personnel to supplement our work force,” said Mark S. Lynch, president of NYSEG and RG&E. “But since the days before the storm hit, our emergency planners have been working on this challenge. Throughout the restoration effort, their work has paid off.  We continue to be committed to securing the optimal number of people to rebuild our electricity delivery system and restore service as quickly as possible.”

Over 14,000 Westchester County residents remained without power Sunday night. Monday morning, 1,228 NYSEG customers in Yorktown and 2,110 customers in Somers are without power.

Crews from Nova Scotia, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Minnesota arrived to bolster efforts in the area. Over 500 line and tree crews are now on the job, some that have been released from utilities and contractors across the country and from Canada, according to NYSEG's Sunday night press release.

In a Sunday evening update, the town of Somers officials they have been informed by NYSEG that they could not meet their originally stated restoration times and have revised restoration times on their website accordingly.

"We continue to pressure NYSEG to get the power on ASAP," Somers Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy said. "We share your frustration. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is available at the Heritage Hills Activity Center for all residents. St. Luke’s Church is serving soup and community dinner 5 to 7 pm. Work crews in town are from all over the country working with little food and sleep. If you can, offer them a cup of coffee, food or a kind word."

Con Ed currently has 2,409 homes without power in Yorktown.

NYSEG officials are also watching the developing storm system that may bring rain, snow and wind to the region on Wednesday and Thursday. The company’s emergency planners are preparing for the possible impacts from this storm.

NYSEG said over 70 percent of customers in its Brewster Division, in which Northern Westchester is situated, have had service restored.

The company expects that "virtually all customers" will have power restored by midnight Wednesday, Nov. 7. Some previously unknown damage or areas that remain inaccessible may extend restoration times.  

For estimated restoration times, visit: http://www.nyseg.com/Outages/outageinformation.html

For more news on NYSEG's efforts you can follow them on Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/NYSEandG.