Poughkeepsie - Still more heavy, wet snow blanketed the Mid-Hudson Valley region last night, causing widespread devastation and interrupting electric service to more than 150,000 customers of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation - one-half of all customers served; it is the largest outage event in the utility's more than century-long history. Damage to the electric delivery system is widespread, with 10 transmission lines impacted and disruption to more than 30 major distribution circuits throughout the region. Thousands of individual repairs will be necessary; many regions will not have power restored through the weekend and residents are urged to seek shelter.
The areas of southern Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and southern and western Ulster counties are most heavily impacted, with 80 percent, or more than 100,000, of Central Hudson's customers in those areas reporting power outages. At least two counties and one municipality have declared states of emergencies due to impassable roads, some covered in more than two feet of snow, hampering travel for emergency and utility crews.
As of Friday morning, outages in the impacted counties were as follows: Albany: 2,600; Columbia: 150; Dutchess: 53,000; Greene: 10,000; Orange: 42,000; Putnam 4,800; Sullivan: 1,315; and Ulster: 37,400. As storm conditions are expected to extend into Saturday, additional outages are likely to be reported, even as power is restored. Customers should expect that restoration may take several more days and those without service should make alternate arrangements for shelter.
Central Hudson is amassing a field workforce nearly four times the utility's normal contingency to address the widespread and unprecedented damage, particularly in the southern portions of the region, caused by the storm. More than 600 field forces are currently deployed to assess damage and begin making repairs. Nearly 100 additional crews will arrive tonight and tomorrow from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio to assist in the restoration efforts. Crews today will continue to restore service throughout the region, assess damage in the newly impacted areas, clear fallen trees and provide emergency response to downed lines and broken poles.
Emergency shelters have been established, and Central Hudson has scheduled the distribution of dry ice and bottled water; details are available on the StormCentral section of the Central Hudson website at
www.CentralHudson.com.
Customers are also advised to be prepared with adequate supplies of non-perishable food, water and medications on hand in the event their power is interrupted. If power is lost, those customers with access to a computer or compatible cell phone should report their power condition via the website at the address above where they can also access information regarding the extent of outages; once service restoration estimates become available, they will be found on the website. Please note that due to the extensive and unfolding nature of the damage, projected restoration information may not be available for all locations via that system for several days.
Customers may also contact the utility by calling (845) 452-2700 or 1 (800) 527-2714 to report a power outage, but they are encouraged to use the automated reporting system to do so. In some locations, localized telephone landline trunk limitations have caused some customers to receive automatic busy signals when dialing in, and they are asked to report via a computer if possible or try again via telephone at a later time.
Customers are also reminded to check on frail or elderly neighbors, relatives or friends - including any who may rely on electrically operated life-sustaining equipment - and encourage them to seek alternate shelter, as it may take several days before their power is restored.
All local residents are reminded to stay clear of downed or sagging wires - they could be lethal. As fallen wires may be hidden by trees or debris, extreme caution should be used when moving through an outage zone. If a power line falls on a vehicle, occupants should stay inside and wait for rescue crews. Customers should not heat their homes with an unvented heater, gas range or any similar appliance, as they can produce deadly carbon monoxide. Generators should be operated only in a vented, dry location; outdoor gas grills should never be used to heat indoors because they pose a fire hazard and can give off deadly carbon monoxide gas.
