Hicksville, NY — In just over 24 hours since the passing of a major and historic winter storm that brought strong winds and up to three feet of snow across Long Island, National Grid has restored electric service to 96 percent of the customers that lost power.
Working in often difficult conditions, as of 1 p.m. today, repair crews have successfully restored power to over 48,000 of the of the nearly 50,000 that lost power from the storm. As repair crews aggressively work to address the remaining outages, they continue to be faced with challenging conditions, including extended travel times, access on unplowed roadways, and heavy snow accumulation at job sites.
“While state, county, and town public works personnel are working hard to clear roadways, many still remain impassible due to heavy snow accumulation making it extremely difficult for our crews to gain access to repair the damage that is causing the electrical outage,” said John Bruckner, President, Long Island Jurisdiction for National Grid. “In some cases, damage locations are some distance away from a customer’s premise, and while their street may be plowed, the damage location causing their outage remains inaccessible to our crews.”
National Grid continues to focus on restoring service to all customers as soon as possible and has significant resources available to respond as roadways are cleared and access is available. Coordinated efforts are ongoing with town, county, and state officials to help prioritize road clearing to expedite restoration of the remaining outages. Additionally, with Nassau County restored, National Grid continues to move resources into the affected areas in the eastern part of Long Island. This movement has been also somewhat inhibited due to restricted travel conditions and road closings.
For the safety of the public, customers are encouraged to remain alert. Those who do leave their homes should exercise extreme caution. With the heavy snow, many hazards, including downed wires, may not be visible. Motorists should drive carefully, particularly when driving near any of the repair crews working to restore power. If using a portable generator, make sure to shut off the main breaker in the electric service panel to avoid power flowing into the electric system, which can endanger crews working to restore power. Most importantly, all downed wires should be assumed to be live and to be avoided. Report it immediately to 1-800- 490-0075 or at 631-755-6900.
