Cuomo Orders Investigation Into Utilities After Widespread Outages From Tropical Storm Isaias
August 05 2020 - 1:52PM
Dow Jones News
By Akane Otani
Public works and utilities crews began restoring power to
millions of households while New York's governor ordered an
investigation into the state's utilities, a day after Tropical
Storm Isaias downed trees and power lines throughout New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut.
More than two million households across the region still don't
have power, according to estimates provided by utilities in the
three states. The storm also knocked out power for more than
200,000 customers served by Consolidated Edison Inc. in New York
City and Westchester, causing one of the worst outages in its
history, according to the utility.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he was directing the
state's Department of Public Service to investigate six utilities
serving New Yorkers over the widespread power failures.
"We know that severe weather is our new reality, and the
reckless disregard by utility companies to adequately plan for
Tropical Storm Isaias left tens of thousands of customers in the
dark, literally and figuratively," Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.
"Their performance was unacceptable."
Mr. Cuomo added that utilities had deployed 7,000 workers
working around the clock to repair damage from the storm.
Isaias wound up being "one of the most serious weather events
since Hurricane Sandy," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on
Wednesday.
Although the storm was relatively brief, with the bulk of its
impact passing through the region by early Tuesday evening, it
packed a punch: Isaias's winds were recorded moving as quickly as
70 miles an hour at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Mr. de
Blasio said.
At one point, 911 dispatchers received more than 100 calls a
minute from New Yorkers trying to report downed trees and power
lines, he added.
A 60-year-old man in Queens died Tuesday after a tree collapsed
onto the vehicle he was sitting in, and a woman in Brooklyn was
critically injured by a falling branch that hit her while she was
walking in Brownsville, Brooklyn around 2 p.m. Tuesday, according
to NYPD officials. The woman was transported to a nearby hospital
where she received treatment, according to the officials, who
didn't know if she had been released from the hospital as of
Wednesday afternoon.
"Job one is to make sure there's no additional danger to human
life and to make sure that cleanup is done safely and quickly," Mr.
de Blasio said.
Workers were hauling away trees and branches that toppled onto
roads, sidewalks and cars. Mr. Cuomo said crews with dump trucks,
excavators, chain saws and portable generators were working
throughout the state to help clear roads and clean up debris.
As of Wednesday morning, New York City had received 18,206
reports of damaged or fallen trees and limbs, according to the
Department of Parks and Recreation. The department added that some
of the reports were likely calls made about the same tree.
Manhattan appeared to be largely spared from tree damage, with
just 570 reports logged to the parks department, while Queens and
Brooklyn accounted for nearly half of the reports made across the
city.
Isaias poses one of the first major tests for the parks
department as it operates under a substantially tightened budget.
Over the summer, the city approved a roughly $37 million cut to the
department's maintenance budget, which helps fund tree maintenance
and cleanup efforts.
Several commuter rails and transit services remained disrupted
after the storm.
Metro-North Railroad said several of its trains in Connecticut
and New York were either operating with delays or had been replaced
by buses while crews worked to repair extensive power and signal
outages and clear trees from tracks. The Staten Island Railway
train service said it also was running with delays, while NJ
Transit said service for many of its train lines would remain
suspended or operate on weekend schedules.
More than 250 trees fell onto NJ Transit tracks during the
storm, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
"It will be a number of days before everyone is back on their
feet," Mr. Murphy said. He urged residents who had lost power to
take advantage of the state's cooling centers as the weather heats
up.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency
Wednesday in response to the widespread power outages caused by the
impact of the storm.
"With more than 700,000 customers experiencing power outages, we
need to take several emergency steps that will facilitate
restoration," Mr. Lamont said.
Katie Honan, Ben Chapman and Joseph De Avila contributed to this
article.
Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 05, 2020 13:37 ET (17:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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