Nor'easter: 30K More Outages Anticipated

High winds plus the many tree branches already in precarious situations since Hurricane Sandy will make a perfect storm for more power outages in Westchester County, Con Edison said today.

"We are certainly focused on the Nor'easter," said Con Edison Senior Vice President of Electric Operations John Miksad on a call with the media this evening. "It sounds like we are going to get hit pretty hard...we are especially concerned about the winds."

Already, approximately 11,000 customers in Westchester County and New York City have reported losing power since the storm began today.

While Miksad said he isn't sure how many of the customers out were also without power following Sandy, he said he received an email from at least one Tuckahoe resident who reported losing power twice in the past week-and-a-half.

In total, Miksad said there are approximately 40,000 without power in Westchester County. The storm will likely hamper these restoration efforts overnight and into tomorrow.

"If it gets too severe, we will be pulling out entirely," he said.

If the Nor'easter "was a normal event and Sandy had not struck, I would say this could be a 30,000-customer storm," Miksad told reporters.

But given the number of dangling branches and areas still recovering, there "could be more interruptions than would have otherwise occurred," he said.

Despite this, Miksad said the company is still "shooting for this weekend" for all Sandy-related restorations.

"In addition to that, we are still taking in additional crews as we speak to help us with that effort," he said.