Out Like A Lion :: Wind Storm Damages Power Lines Causing Power Outages

Winds of up to 40mph blew through Beacon Monday night into Tuesday morning, causing some to lose power.

The Times Union has a Power Outage Tracker that attempts to report power outages as they happen in counties across New York. According to Central Hudson, about 639 people in Dutchess County experienced power loss. Some Beaconites reported darkness as well in social media on Monday night. Outages within other counties were, as reported by Central Hudson:

• Albany County: 345

• Dutchess County: 639

• Greene County: 2,184

• Orange County: 1,537

• Ulster County: 6,939

Ulster County got pummeled during the last blizzard, and the chance for power outage doesn’t seem to have let up. Central Hudson is currently embroiled in a billing controversy with clients and county leaders, where customer trust is lost in accurate billing. The County Executive for Ulster County Pat Ryan has called for an investigation into Central Hudson’s billing, and Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro calls Central Hudson’s new billing system roll-out “flawed and disturbing.”

As reported by WAMC, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan says he has submitted a letter to the New York State Public Service Commission. The article reports: “He says he has heard complaints from residents about not receiving bills for months, extremely over-estimated bills, and large automatic withdrawals from consumer accounts without notice.” WAMC reports that “once it receives the letter, the Public Service Commission is required to open a formal investigation.”

About The Wind Storm and Restoration

According to Central Hudson, “a low-pressure system moved into the region on Monday night bringing a line of thunderstorms and powerful wind gusts of over 50 miles per hour to some areas. These winds toppled trees and tree limbs onto powerlines causing outages throughout Central Hudson’s service area.”

Central Hudson’s’s report about the wind storm and restoration efforts is as follows:

“Central Hudson’s crews are working to make repairs and restore power to our customers as safely and quickly as possible,” said Ryan Hawthorne, Vice President of Electric Engineering and Operations. “In addition to our full complement of internal crews and contractors, we’re expecting an additional 80 line workers from New York, Connecticut, Maine and Quebec to arrive throughout the day to help address nearly 350 individual damage locations.”

“Conditions on Tuesday will improve and allow us to make significant progress, but we anticipate restoration efforts in the most heavily impacted areas to extend into Wednesday,” Hawthorne added.

Tropical Storm Isaias Cuts Power, Internet; Power Restoration For Thousands Continues; Mutual Aid Increases

Photo Credit: A Little Beacon Blog

Just as businesses were beginning to get into a grove of new business, and residents were starting new end of summer routines like day camps for kids, Tropical Storm Isaias tore through the region, leaving 116,000 Central Hudson home and business customers without power (on Tuesday, 100,000 was reported, but has increased since), and at least 500 locations with wires down as a result of the high winds. At least 360 line workers and tree personal, including arriving mutual aid workers, are on the scene to restore power, which increased to 500 by Wednesday and 570 by that evening, and this morning (Thursday) is at 600, and by Thursday evening has reached 700 line and tree personnel. Metro North continues to run on a weekend schedule, which it started Tuesday in preparation for the damage.

Central Hudson has declared it the 4th most severe to impact the region in Central Hudson’s history. In New York City, Con Ed told Gothamist that the storm was its 2nd worst for power outages, second only to Super Storm Sandy, leaving 210,000 customers without power in NYC.

City Hall and the Police Department both lost power, and some businesses on Main Street were without power on Tuesday, and owners of businesses suffered power outages at home, making it hard come in to open a store. Cross Court Tennis in Hopewell remained without power for at least two days as they recently opened a small tennis camp for kids.

Wednesday AM

Central Hudson crews restored power to nearly 26,000 customers on Tuesday night. As of 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, approximately 89,000, customers are still without electricity, primarily in southern Dutchess County and Orange County on Wednesday:

• Columbia County: 1,160

• Dutchess County: 42,350

• Orange County: 31,800

• Putnam County: 2,800

• Ulster County: 11,250

Wednesday PM

Said Central Hudson in a customer email: “As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Central Hudson has restored power to more than half the customers impacted by the storm. More than 1,100 damage locations remain, which is higher than the initial number provided on Tuesday, and approximately 57,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity, the majority of which are in southern Dutchess County and Orange County:”

• Dutchess County: 25,000

• Orange County: 22,000

• Putnam County: 3,300

• Ulster County: 6,400

Thursday AM

Said Central Hudson in a customer email: “Two-thirds of our customers impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias have had service restored within 36 hours. As of 7 a.m. on Thursday morning, roughly 38,000 are without electrical service, the majority of which are located in Orange County and Southern Dutchess County:”

• Dutchess County: 16,812

• Orange County: 14,468

• Putnam County: 2,050

• Ulster County: 3,900
  

Thursday PM

Said Central Hudson in a customer email: “A compliment of more than 700 line and tree personnel along with hundreds of employees in support roles are working to address approximately 1,000 damage locations. As of 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, approximately 26,200 homes and businesses within Central Hudson’s service area are without power, with the majority of remaining outages located in Orange County and Dutchess County. Central Hudson anticipates electric service will be restored to 95% of affected customers as follows by county:”

• Columbia County: Friday, August 7, 8 p.m.

• Dutchess County: Friday, August 7, 11:30 p.m.

• Orange County: Saturday, August 8, 12 p.m.

• Putnam County: Friday, August 7, 8 p.m.

• Ulster County: Thursday, August 6, 8 p.m.
  

Since the start of the storm, Central Hudson crews have been addressing more than 1,600 reports of wires down and repairing 91 broken utility poles. Central Hudson anticipates 90% of homes and businesses will have power restored by 11:30 pm on Friday, August 7.

“Our crews continue to make significant progress in restoring electrical services to our customers. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to recover from this historic storm,” said Ryan Hawthorne, Assistant Vice President of Electric Engineering and Operations at Central Hudson in a daily storm update email. “We also want to thank the emergency responders as well as our municipal, county and state officials for their assistance and support.”

Internet Outage

Internet was also out due to the storm, which isn’t a first for Beacon at least, who has received spotty, unreliable service from Optimum since the pandemic started. Just last weekend, Optimum went out on Saturday evening, making calling or online ordering of food impossible, forcing customers to drive to their favorite restaurant to place their order. The nerve!

Central Hudson also lost Internet, rendering useless their ability to notify customers via digital outreach, including their website, mobile app, and other digital sources. They do have a Facebook and Twitter. According to the Times Herald-Record, services for 911 were down in Orange County, and have since been restored.

Safety Reminders - Gas Ordors

From Central Hudson’s Storm Update Email:

Heavy rains can cause localized flooding, creating hazardous conditions for drivers and pedestrians. Residents are urged to avoid standing or running water, as fallen wires could be hidden beneath. In addition, heavy flooding may undermine natural gas lines, and customers are urged to report gas odors they may detect by doing the following:

• STOP what you are doing. Do not light or use a match. Do not turn lights on or off or use a flashlight, cell phone or telephone. Do not turn on any other appliance or electric/electronic device and do not flush or run water.

• GO outside immediately.

• LET US KNOW by calling 911.

Safety Reminders: Fallen Wires

Central Hudson also issues this warning: AVOID ALL FALLEN WIRES:

• You can't tell if a power line is energized just by looking at it. Assume all fallen power lines are live and proceed with extreme caution.

• Do not drive over fallen wires. Always follow the utility personnel instructions regarding fallen power lines.

• If you see a fallen power line, stay at least 30 feet away from it and anything it contacts. The ground around a power line and any objects it contacts may be energized. Call 911 to report fallen wires.

• Do not attempt to move a fallen power line or anything else in contact with it using an object such as a broom or stick. Even non-conductive materials like wood or cloth can conduct electricity if even slightly wet.

Dry Ice Distribution Thursday Night To Tropical Storm Isaias Victims At 3 Locations In Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Hopewell Junction, From Dutchess County

Power continues to be out for many residents after high winds and rain from Hurricane Isaias took down power lines across the region on Tuesday. Dutchess County Government’s Emergency Operations Center has announced that in addition to their other recovery efforts, they are facilitating dry ice availability, which has been in short supply, in coordination with Central Hudson. Keeping food cold has been challenging with no power.

According to Dutchess County’s press release: “with assistance from Town of East Fishkill Supervisor Nick D'Alessandro and Councilman Anil Beephan, County Executive Marc Molinaro had the County’s Emergency Response and Public Works departments connect Central Hudson with a Kingston area dry ice supplier and secure the vendor’s remaining inventory from Albany. Central Hudson will be distributing the 1,500 pounds of dry ice, along with regular ice and bottled water, this evening (Thursday, August 6, 2020, at the following locations:

• Poughkeepsie Home Depot, 3470 North Rd., Poughkeepsie

• Newburgh Armory 321 S. William St., Newburgh

• East Fishkill Town Hall, 330 Route 376, Hopewell Junction
  

County Executive Molinaro said, “This storm has left a tremendous amount of damage in its wake and we continue to work together to recover as fast as possible, but complications such as a dry ice shortage only make the process more urgent and stressful. We are working together with our local municipal partners and the area utilities to ensure residents needs are met. This is a great example of the collaborative response effort underway – East Fishkill Supervisor Nick D’Alessandro was able to provide a resource opportunity and the County made the connection with Central Hudson – ensuring solutions to meet critical needs.”

Other Emergency Needs Met By Dutchess County

In addition to today’s effort, Dutchess County has been able to help in other ways, including:

• Dutchess County Public Works highway crews have continued to clear roadways of storm debris, in coordination with utility crews, to help facilitate power restoration efforts;

• Dutchess County Emergency Response was able to assist the Town of Stanford in providing bottled water to town residents; with Dutchess County Public Works delivering pallets of water, yesterday;

• Dutchess County Emergency Response has secured a large supply of bottled water from New York State to ensure availability for residents;

• Emergency Response has been coordinating with both Central Hudson and NYSEG to provide temporary power for residents still without power to operate critical medical equipment; and

• Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office has been performing wellness checks on senior or disabled residents living alone who are still without power.