O&R Estimates Most Rockland Repairs To Take All Weekend

PEARL RIVER, NY, — O&R expects to restore most customers in New York’s Orange and Sullivan counties and Passaic County, NJ, by midnight Friday. For Rockland and Bergen counties in New York and New Jersey, respectively, it’s estimated that most customers will have power back by midnight Sunday night.

Most of the storm damage following what's being called Winter Storm Quinn occurred in Bergen and Rockland. The storm brought over a foot of heavy wet snow to communities in these areas, causing many branches and trees to fall. In some of these instances, electrical wires were tangled in the trees. Those wires have to be de-energized and untangled. Then the trees are cut and removed, along with other debris.

The state of New York deployed the National Guard to Rockland to assist with tree-clearing.

The company says:

O&R’s storm response plans focus first on repairs that support public safety like clearing downed wires from roads. From there, the company dispatches resources to restore outages that affect the greatest number of customers in succession until all customers are back in service.

With damage assessment and repairs underway, customers are reminded to continue to:

• Be especially mindful of the potential for downed lines to be buried beneath snow.
• Put your safety and the safety of your children first at all times. Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with, including puddles and fences.
• Never touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free at 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.

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it, or that someone else will report it. Also, notify the company if power is restored to your neighborhood, but not your home. All outages and safety concerns should be reported immediately.

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

· The following video describes the typical storm repair and power restoration process: https://youtu.be/JeGU8ID4_m0

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

PHOTO/ Con Edison