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Storm Alert: O&R Crews Overnight Restored Power To 3,460 Customers, 486 Still Out

  • Orange and Rockland Media Relations

  • Pearl River – December 23, 2022 -- 06:15 AM

Orange & Rockland (O&R) crews worked through the night to restore power to 3,460 customers whose electric service was knocked out by damage from the major winter storm system that continues to pummel the region with heavy rains and wind gusts of 45-55 mph.

Repairs are in progress to restore service to the remaining 486 affected customers.

O&R company, contractor and mutual aid overhead line crews, along with tree removal experts, will be deployed as needed for the duration of the storm. Customer service operations and other emergency response teams also remain activated and ready to respond.

O&R Warns

For safety’s sake, O&R warns the public not to touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also consider calling your local police to divert traffic from the downed wire’s location until an O&R crew arrives.

Weather Forecast

  • Strong gusty winds are due through 5 p.m. today. Expect sustained winds of 15 mph to 30 mph with gusts from 45 mph to 55 mph. across the region, with the highest gusts closer to the coast.
  • Periods of moderate to heavy rain are expected until around 1 p.m. Friday.
  • Snow is possible in Sullivan and western Orange counties today with about I inch falling between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Total rainfall expected across the entire region is 1.0 inch to 2.5 inches.
  • Embedded thunderstorms are likely from 8 a.m. through 1 p.m. Friday with a low chance for isolated severe thunderstorms during this timeframe. Severe thunderstorms contain wind gusts greater than 57 mph, hail larger than 1 inch or tornadoes
  • Rain is expected to taper off from west to east after 1 p.m. today as the cold front exits the area.
  • Temperatures will quickly fall from the upper 50s to the 20s and upper teens behind the cold front later Friday evening. Dropping temperatures and lingering winds could push the wind chill readings into zero degrees or even below.
  • Lingering winds gusting 30 mph through 40 mph are possible 3 p.m. today to 6 a.m. Saturday as cold air pours into the area.
  • The coldest airmass of the season so far is expected Saturday, Sunday and Monday with highs struggling to get out of the 20s.Some moderation in temperatures is expected by Tuesday.

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 is not available during this event.

For the latest information about power outages, please view O&R’s Outage Map.

For a brief video that provides a step-by-step guide to the Outage Map’s basic operation:

Restoring Service

Once the weather clears enough to safely assess damage and begin electric service restoration, O&R crews will give priority to clearing downed wires blocking roads and making repairs to critical and emergency facilities (police and fire stations, and hospitals, for example) and to those locations where the repair will provide power to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. Then, crews will restore smaller outages and individual customers’ outages.

Important Safety Tips

  • For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.
  • 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 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 ground.
  • 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 O&R

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’s Customers

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).