18K Remain Without Power In The Hudson Valley: Saturday Report

Progress was made overnight on the downed trees and entangled power lines across the lower Hudson Valley. Still, many Rockland and Westchester county residents await the return of electricity.

• O&R: 11,000 customers still out of power, most in Rockland County
• Con Ed: 6,499 still out, most in Westchester
• NYSEG: 445 in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester
• Central Hudson: 16 customers still out

With the support of additional mutual aid assistance, O&R expects to have the vast majority of Rockland customers restored by midnight Sunday night and aims for complete power restoration in Sullivan and Bergen counties by then, officials said. (Sign up for Patch news alerts to get updates straight to your inbox.)

O&R officials said Saturday that 220 additional mutual aid line technicians were working this morning to help O&R restore service to the 11,000 customers who remain without electricity as a result of destructive, back-to-back nor’easters.

The additional technicians arrived Friday night, bringing O&R’s field force of line, tree, single service, damage assessment and site safety personnel to about 950 – representing the largest restoration contingent O&R has deployed to the field since Hurricane Sandy.

The damage hit in two waves. First O&R was focused on substantial and widespread tree removal and line repairs in Sullivan County, NY, the area hardest hit by Winter Storm Riley’s damaging winds. Then the second nor’easter moved through the service territory dumping over a foot of heavy, wet snow, which downed trees onto poles and lines. Winter Storm Quinn caused the greatest damage in Bergen County, NJ, and Rockland County, NY.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wrote letters to the heads of two of the region's power utility companies, Con Edison and New York State Electric and Gas, demanding answers for why thousands of New Yorkers still lack power in the wake of winter storms Riley and Quinn.

The letters also questioned the utility companies about whether they are following the recommendations made by New York State’s Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response in 2013 after Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee, about how to respond effectively after major storm events.

“While these storms resulted in widespread damage, dangerous roads and conditions, downed trees, and power outages across the Northeast, it is unacceptable that many of our constituents have been without power for a week, and potentially will remain without power for even longer,” the Senators wrote. “We recognize that the focus must now be on doing everything possible to restore service to all of your impacted customers as quickly as possible, however, lessons must also be learned and applied to ensure that this type of situation does not occur again.”

PHOTO/ Rick Caulfield