UPDATE: O&R Restoring Power to 8,000 Storm-Tossed Customers

UPDATE: By 10:30 p.m., O&R had restored power to most customers in Rockland and Orange counties. Electricity was knocked out to almost 8,000 customers during Tuesday's wind storm. By 10:30 p.m. there were fewer than 50 customers still out.

O&R crews have restored power to about 3,500 customers whose power was knocked out today by the high winds and heavy rain blowing through the region. Crews are now working to restore service to the remaining 4,300 customers whose service was interrupted by Tuesday's turbulent weather. The outages are in Orange and Rockland counties.

O&R officials said company and contractor overhead line crews will continue their work into the evening and through the night as necessary until all customers whose power can be restored are back in service. Those line crews are supported by damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and a wide array of O&R teams assisting those functions.

There are several ways customers can report outages and check service restoration status:

• Go to www.oru.com/outage from any computer or web-enabled mobile device;
• Use the O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device;
• Text “OUT” to 69678 (myORU); or
• Call Customer Assistance at 1-877-434-4100

To help its customers prepare to weather a storm, O&R offers these tips:

· For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.

· Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.

· If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away, and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.

· Have emergency equipment within reach --- portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Keep O&R’s toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.

· If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it or that someone else will report it. To be sure the outage is reported, please call O&R toll-free at 1-877-434-4100 to let O&R know what happened. The more information you can provide, the more O&R can help you.

· Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.

For more information, visit O&R’s Storm Center at www.oru.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Storm Starts Leaf-Slime Season For Metro-North
• Wind Advisory, Hazardous Outlook Tuesday: Hudson Valley