Newburgh - As of Monday morning, approximately 45,000 Central Hudson customers remain without electricity. Working around the clock with a field force of 1,000 people, the utility has restored service to more than two thirds of the 150,000 customers who lost service as a result of two powerful snowstorms that struck the region last week. Crews are systematically progressing through additional small, localized outages uncovered as they work throughout communities, and officials report that the majority of customers will have their service restored by Wednesday at midnight.
As of Monday morning, approximately 45,000 customers remained without service, many of them part of the estimated 1,100 remaining outages that each impact dozens of customers or less. As of Monday morning, outages were located by county as follows: Dutchess: 15,500; Greene: 500; Orange: 18,000; Putnam 1,000; Sullivan: 600; and Ulster: 9,500.
The restoration has now largely shifted from the repair of major facilities and distribution networks to a labor- and time-intensive phase of restoring electricity one neighborhood, street or customer at a time.
Emergency Support
Emergency shelters have been established by the Red Cross and other agencies (see a complete list at
www.CentralHudson.com), and Central Hudson is distributing dry ice and bottled water free of charge. As of Sunday afternoon, Central Hudson had distributed 121,000 pounds of dry ice and 68,200 bottles of water to customers in need. That distribution will continue as long as needed; updated schedules will be made available to local media outlets and will be available on Central Hudson's website,
www.CentralHudson.com, in the StormCentral section.
To Report a Power Outage
Those customers with access to a computer or compatible cell phone should report their power outage via the website at
www.CentralHudson.com, in the StormCentral section, where they can also access information regarding the extent of outages; once service restoration estimates become available, they can be found on the website as well. Customers may also contact the utility by calling (845) 452-2700 or 1 (800) 527-2714 to report a power outage, and they are encouraged to use the automated reporting system to do so.
Between Tuesday and Sunday, the utility's telephone system handled 295,000 calls (as compared to the approximately 15,000 calls that are handled in a routine week). Of those calls, 49,000 spoke with a Customer Service Representative and the balance reported their condition via the utility's automated system. In all, 92,500 orders regarding outages were registered. During that same period, there have been nearly 90,000 hits on the StormCentral section of the Central Hudson website.
Important Safety Reminders:
Customers are requested 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.
For updates, safety tips, list of shelter locations and more information on how to prepare for storms, visit
www.CentralHudson.com.
