Roughly 9,000 customers in New York State Electric & Gas’s Brewster Division remain without power after yesterday’s severe thunderstorms.
That includes 1,187 customers in Westchester County and 3,618 in Putnam, as of 11:40 a.m.
The Brewster Division includes parts of Putnam, Dutchess and northern Westchester counties. Nearly all of the thousands of upstate NYSEG customers who lost power have since had it restored. In all, 42,000 lost power after the storms tore through the region around 5:30 p.m. yesterday.
The utility predicted to complete repairs and restore power to nearly all customers locally by midday Saturday.
Customers are urged to avoid downed power lines and report them at 1-800-572-1131. NYSEG’s natural gas emergency number is 1-800-572-1121.
Use emergency generators with care and never run one indoors.
For the latest outage information by county, municipality and street, and available restoration times, go to http://www.nyseg.com/Outages/outageinformation.html.
Dry ice and bottled water will be available at 2 p.m. today at the Lake Carmel Fire Department, 851 Route 52 (one mile north of Route 52 and Route 311), and at the Amawalk Fire Station # 4, 2513 Amawalk Road (Route 35), at the intersection of Liberty Way (formally Chalmers Boulevard) in the hamlet of Amawalk Heights.
During a power interruption:
•Contact neighbors to see if their power is off. A loss of power may be the result of a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker.
•Contact NYSEG (1.800.572.1131) to report a power interruption. Our telephone system lets callers report the problem, helps our crews respond quickly and efficiently, and provides customers with power interruption updates. Because many people may be trying to reach us during a power interruption, phone lines may be busy. Anyone who has access to a working computer during a power interruption can also report the interruption online at nyseg.com.
•Listen to a battery-powered radio for weather and power restoration updates.
•Turn off major appliances (electric water heaters, refrigerators and freezers) and sensitive electronic equipment (TVs, VCRs, DVD players, computers, audio equipment) to prevent overloading and possible damage when power is restored. Turning off this equipment may mean unplugging it, turning off a circuit breaker or removing a fuse for the circuit that provides power to this equipment. Leave one light switch “on” to know when power has been restored.
•Don’t use a natural gas or propane range to heat your home.
•Never use outdoor grills or stoves inside.
•Keep refrigerators and freezers closed as much as possible to prevent food from spoiling – most food will last 24 hours.
After power is restored
•If a basement or home was flooded, customers should have an electrician check the home and have a plumbing and heating contractor check natural gas appliances before contacting NYSEG to have services turned on.
•Turn on appliances and sensitive electronic equipment one at a time to avoid overloading circuits.
•Replenish emergency supplies used during the storm.
