Repair
crews continued to address storm damage overnight by clearing fallen
trees, replacing broken poles and downed lines, and restoring electric
service to more than 86,000 Central Hudson customers. As of 7:30 a.m.
Thursday morning, fewer than 17,000 customers remain without power,
including 9,000 in Ulster County; 4,000 in Orange County; and 1,900 in
Dutchess County. The utility estimates that more than 900 distinct
damage locations must be addressed to in order to complete the service
restoration to all customers.
“We
continue our efforts, day by day, to bring power back to our customers,
and while we expect service to be restored to 90 percent of impacted
customers by late Friday night, we also recognize that some areas
sustained substantial storm damage and restoration activities will
continue there during the weekend,” said James P. Laurito, President of
Central Hudson. “We want to continue to remind our customers to keep
away from low-hanging or downed lines, assume they are live and never
attempt to move or relocate these lines, and to report all downed or
low-hanging lines to county emergency management by calling 911.”
“We
are fortunate in that additional mutual aid reinforcements arrived last
night to assist in the restoration efforts, including three crews from
Fortis Inc’s Ontario, Canada operations,” said Laurito. A merger
agreement between Fortis Inc. and CH Energy Group, Central Hudson’s
parent company, is taking place, pending approval by the New York State
Public Service Commission.
Customers
should call Central Hudson’s PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or
1-800-527-2714 to report their power condition, and they are encouraged
to use the automated reporting system. Customers with access to a
computer may also report their power condition via www.CentralHudson.com
by using the StormCentral function. Information regarding service
restoration estimates, as it becomes available, can be obtained by phone
and online, and updates are posted on Facebook and Twitter.
A mobile version of the utility’s website, including StormCentral, can
be accessed by web-enabled cell phones and mobile devices at http://mobile.CentralHudson.com. Free Central Hudson mobile applications for Android, Apple and Blackberry devices are also available by logging onto www.CentralHudson.com/mobileapp;
recent updates to these mobile apps were made earlier this month, and
current users should download their update, as previous versions of
these apps will no longer work optimally.
Laurito also remind customers to stay safe by:
· Staying at least 30 feet away from downed power lines, and lines which may be entangled and hidden in fallen trees. Assume all downed lines are live;
· Avoiding the use of candles for illumination;
· Following
the manufacturer’s safety instructions on the use of emergency
generators, and be sure to shut off the main breaker when in use and to
only operate the units outdoors; and
· Never
using outdoor gas or charcoal grills indoors, as they pose a fire
hazard and over time can give off deadly carbon monoxide gas. Use these
appliances only outdoors with proper ventilation. Similarly, operate
cars and motor vehicles outdoors only, and never in the garage.
Dry ice and bottled water:
More
than 86,000 pounds of dry ice and 12,000 gallons of bottled water were
distributed to residents since Tuesday, and dry ice and bottled water
will continue to be made available on Thursday at the following
locations. A full list of these locations is available at www.CentralHudson.com; customers without Internet access can call (845) 486-5796 to hear a recording that lists these locations:
Hamptonburgh (Orange County)
Thomas Bull Memorial Park Boat House
211 State Route 416 (enter park at Grove Street)
Montgomery, NY 12549
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Newburgh Home Depot (Orange County)
1220 Route 300
Newburgh NY 12550
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Fishkill Home Depot (Dutchess County)
Dutchess Mall
450 Route 9, Fishkill NY 12524
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Central Hudson facility at Eltings Corners (Ulster County)
Corner of Route 299 and South St.
Town of Lloyd, 12528 (directly opposite Lowe’s Home Improvement)
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Accord Fire Department (Ulster County)
22 Main Street
Accord, NY 12404
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Ellenville/Wawarsing (Ulster County)
Wawarsing Transfer Station
209 Landfill Rd
Wawarsing, NY 12489
7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Staffed by local municipal officials/volunteers
