O&R Declares Storm Watch as Nor'Easter Looms

PEARL RIVER, NY — O&R has declared a Storm Watch in response to the weather forecast for heavy snow and high winds expected to hit our region overnight Monday, and through the day on Tuesday.

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, officials said.

Overnight Monday through Tuesday 10-18 inches of snow is expected, falling at times at a rate of 1-3 inches per hour. Strong northeast winds are predicted 20-30 mph sustained with gusts over 40 mph during that period.

O&R company and contractor overhead line crews are preparing to ramp up to respond to outages as are damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions. O&R also has hired 50 additional contract workers to supplement its workforce to aid in the field forces’ repair efforts.

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

• Go to www.oru.com 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.