SHARE

Con Ed: Irene Sets Record for Power Outages

WESTCHESTER— Hundreds of additional power line workers from around the country converged in Westchester and New York City to restore power to the 187,800 customers who lost power as a result of tropical storm Irene. Con Edison said power had been restored to 83 percent of its customers by Tuesday evening, although many Westchester customers will have to wait until Thursday evening.

Approximately 155,400 of the 187,800 Con Edison customers in New York City and Westchester County who lost power as a result of the storm have been restored to service.  Tropical storm Irene inflicted the most power outages ever by a storm in Con Edison’s service area, said the power company.  The previous high was 173,000 customer outages from a March 2010 nor’easter.  Con Edison updates outage numbers every 15 minutes on www.ConEd.com/OutageMap.

Con Edison reported that the communities hit hardest by the storm were New Castle, North Castle, Yorktown and Cortlandt, which have about 10,000 of the 26,000 customer outages in the county as of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Con Edison has already replaced over 92,700 feet of electric cable and numerous poles and transformers. The company is receiving assistance from utility crews here from various states, including Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Con Edison is reminding customers of important safety messages:

Treat all downed wires as if they are live. 

Avoid standing water or puddles, which may hide downed wires.

Report all downed wires to Con Edison and local police departments immediately.

Customers can use their mobile devices, as well as computers, to report power interruptions or service problems  www.ConEd.com. They also may call Con Edison at 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).

The company said it is working closely with the New York City Office of Emergency Management and The Westchester Office of Emergency Services other emergency officials to monitor and respond to the effects of Hurricane Irene.

Still without power? Tell us about it below.

to follow Daily Voice Chappaqua and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE