Power Outages From Tropical Storm Isaias Could Last for Days
August 06 2020 - 1:22PM
Dow Jones News
By Akane Otani
More than one million customers in New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut were without power for a third day since Tropical Storm
Isaias battered the region, and some outages could stretch into
next week, utility companies said.
Consolidated Edison Inc., which serves customers in New York
City and Westchester, said Thursday it probably would take until
the end of Sunday to restore power to "the vast majority of
customers."
Jersey Central Power and Light said it would take until late
Tuesday to restore power to the customers it serves in central and
northern New Jersey. And Eversource Energy in Connecticut said it
was unable to provide estimated repair times for many customers
because it was still assessing the damage from the storm.
"It's a total disaster," Richard Whalen, 81 years old, said
Thursday.
Mr. Whalen said his house inn South Salem, N.Y., in Westchester
County north of New York City, had been without power from New York
State Electric and Gas Corp. since Tuesday afternoon. He has relied
on a back-up generator for the past few days but planned to drive
into town Thursday to get more fuel for the generator.
NYSEG has provided little communication, Mr. Whelan said.
"You call and you get the same thing we heard Wednesday morning:
no estimated time of repair," he said.
NYSEG said Thursday that it would work to get customers
estimated times for repairs by the afternoon, and that it expected
95% of customers to have power back on by late Monday.
Amy Bass, 50, of New Rochelle, N.Y., also in Westchester, said
she lost power from ConEd late Tuesday and hadn't had it back
since.
"We woke up to rotting and melting food, drained phones, and no
Wi-Fi and cell service," Ms. Bass said.
She said she was grateful she and her family were safe but
disappointed over the lack of updates from the utility. Isaias was
just one of a number of storms that have led to prolonged power
outages at her house over the years, she said.
Isaias barreled through the area Tuesday, downing trees and
causing at one point more than two million outages. Police
officials have confirmed at least two storm-related deaths -- one
in Queens, another in Connecticut -- and are investigating a third
in New Jersey caused by a possible electrocution.
Hardware and home-improvement stores reported an influx of
customers in the days after the storm.
There has been a "huge need for flashlights, batteries, propane
and oil for generators," said Howie Levine, owner of Denville
Hardware, a family-run store that has been in business in northern
New Jersey for 74 years.
Meanwhile, politicians across the tri-state region ramped up
pressure on utilities to expedite repairs.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press briefing
Thursday that he had talked to the president of ConEd earlier that
day and asked the utility to speed up its work.
"We just can't have people wait that long. It's just not fair,"
Mr. de Blasio said, referring to the utility's initial estimate of
Sunday for restoring power to most customers.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency
Wednesday and, like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asked for an
investigation into utilities' response to the storm. As of
Thursday, more than half a million customers in Connecticut still
didn't have power, according to estimates from Eversource Energy
and United Illuminating Co.
"Several years ago, Connecticut experienced large-scale outages
that took days to recover from, and we were told that the utilities
were improving their resources so that they can be prepared for the
next time Mother Nature inevitably hits again," Mr. Lamont said in
a statement. "And now here we are, with a wholly inadequate
response to another storm."
Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 06, 2020 13:07 ET (17:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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