O&R Restores Power to 11,000 Since 7 am; Outages Steadily Developing

O&R is repairing storm damage and restoring electric service today to approximately 1,325 customers at over 60 different locations whose power was knocked out today by the high winds that are lashing the region.

Here are the outage numbers by county as of 10 a.m. today.

NEW YORK
Rockland 192
Orange 173
Sullivan 492

NEW JERSEY
Bergen 238
Passaic 67
Sussex 162

For the most up-to-date outage information, please go to O&R’s Outage Map.

Since 7 am today, O&R has restored electric service to approximately 11,000 customers whose power was knocked out by high winds. O&R restored power that was knocked out by the wind to about 1,500 customers overnight last night.

O&R’s full complement of company and contractor overhead line technicians and tree removal experts are ready to expedite system repairs and electric service restoration as needed for customers whose power has been or could be knocked out by today’s high gusty winds. Seventy-five outside contractors have also been obtained to supplement today’s efforts.

Damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions also are ready to aid in service restoration efforts.

High winds can cause power line damage and electric service interruptions. Of particular concern in this storm are trees with nearly full canopies of leaves that provide extra strain on branches and trunks in high winds, and rain-saturated ground that provides less stable footing for the roots that anchor trees.

Expect sustained winds of 15-30 mph with gusts as high as 40-50 mph today. Winds will remain very gusty through late afternoon. After sunset, sustained winds are expected to drop down to 15-25 mph with gusts of 25-35 mph and remain at that level until late Tuesday morning. A few isolated rain/snow showers are possible today into Tuesday but no snow accumulation is expected.

The following video describes the typical storm repair and power restoration process:

How to report an outage

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:

• At www.oru.com/reportoutage from any computer or web-based mobile device.
• O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device --- download via Apple Store or Google Play.
• Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or
• Call 1-877-434-4100.

Be Safe

O&R urges its customers to stay clear of downed electric wires. Don’t go near any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free at 1-877-434-4100. If the situation requires urgent action, call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.

As an added safety precaution, O&R personnel have been instructed to practice social distancing with each other and members of the public when responding to emergency calls to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. O&R asks members of the public to maintain appropriate social distancing when they encounter O&R employees working in the field, to provide for mutual safety.

Important Safety Tips

• Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.
• If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
• Pole-top transformers – those small grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles – also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the groun
  
• Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.   
  
• Have emergency equipment within reach --- portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Keep O&R’s toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.    
• Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.

About Orange & Rockland

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.

O&R serves the following communities in New York: Airmont, Bloomingburg, Blooming Grove, Chester Town, Chester Village, Chestnut Ridge, Clarkstown, Crawford, Deerpark, Florida, Forestburgh, Goshen Town, Goshen Village, Grand View, Greenwood Lake, Greenville, Harriman, Haverstraw Town, Haverstraw Village, Highland Falls, Highlands, Hillburn, Kaser, Kiryas Joel, Lumberland, Mamakating, Middletown, Minisink, Monroe Town, Monroe Village, Montebello, Mount Hope, New Hempstead, New Square, Nyack, Orangetown, Otisville, Palm Tree, Piermont, Pomona, Port Jervis, Ramapo, Sloatsburg, South Blooming Grove, South Nyack, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern, Tuxedo Town, Tuxedo Park, Unionville, Upper Nyack, Wesley Hills, Wallkill, Warwick Town, Warwick Village, Washingtonville, Wawayanda, West Haverstraw, Woodbury, Woodbury Village, Wurtsboro.

O&R, as Rockland Electric Company, serves the following communities in New Jersey: Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Mahwah, Haworth (part), Montague, Montvale, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan (part), Ramsey, Ringwood, Rivervale (part), Rockleigh, Saddle River (part), Upper Saddle River, Wantage (part), Vernon (part), West Milford (part), Wyckoff (part).