O&R Declares Storm Watch As 4th Nor'easter Looms

PEARL RIVER, NY — O&R has declared a Storm Watch as a nor’easter, packing strong, gusty winds, snow and possibly sleet is bearing down on the region Tuesday night and is expected to continue through Wednesday. The company sent out a statement detailing the measures being taken to prepare.

This is a significant, all-hands, weather event, utility company officials said. All available O&R personnel will be mobilized to work in their respective storm functions.

"As we know from the two nor’easters we’ve endured since March began, severe storm activity has the potential to cause power line damage and electric service interruptions. O&R is ready to repair storm damage and restore service as needed," the company said in a press release.

Company and contractor overhead line crews and tree removal crews are ramping up for a high-volume outage response Wednesday morning and beyond as necessary as are damage assessment, site safety and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions. Customer Service representatives will activate its storm response operation Tuesday evening.

In addition to its company crews, O&R has secured over 200 additional overhead line technicians to supplement its own field forces for this event, and the company is seeking more resources.

Weather forecasters expect the intensifying storm to begin Tuesday night with winds 5-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph and light snow. That snow is expected to turn heavy and wet, possibly mixing with sleet through the day Wednesday. Winds on Wednesday are expected to be sustained at 15-25 mph, gusting to 35-45 mph. Snowfall ranging from 4-10 inches is possible.

To prepare for the severe weather, O&R electric and gas crews are securing active work sites Tuesday to prevent wind and water damage from the predicted storm.

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

• Go to the O&R website 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

MAP/ AccuWeather.com