Tropical storm-strength winds and driving rains today brought trees onto power lines and interrupted electric service to more than 90,000 customers throughout the region served by Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation. Severe flooding, numerous road closures and hazardous working conditions are making the restoration of electric service a daunting challenge that will take at least several days to complete, especially in the hardest-hit areas.

It is estimated that nearly 5 million people are without power along the Eastern Seaboard as a result of what was Hurricane Irene, said Central Hudson’s President James P. Laurito. “We’re committed to restoring service to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible in the aftermath of this deadly storm. We ask for their patience as we methodically assess damage, assign crews and bring power back to the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” he said. He added that continued high winds will likely make restoration particularly difficult through the remainder of Sunday.

Central Hudson estimates there are more than 500 individual damage locations, with the heaviest impact in Ulster County, where road closures due to flooding are hampering access to many damage locations. In addition, strong wind gusts continue to cause further trouble and states of emergency of have been declared in several locations.

“Our crews are addressing emergency situations as weather and conditions permit, and we anticipate that even greater restoration progress will be made now that the weather has begun to clear in some locations,” said Laurito. He noted that while some of the repairs involve individual transmission lines that serve thousands of customers, much of the restoration work entails smaller outages associated with neighborhood repairs – work that is time- and labor-intensive. “There are some portions of the service territory where washed out roads have removed several poles and many sections of wire. Those locations will require the rebuilding of our electric system and will take time to complete,” Laurito explained.

In addition to Central Hudson’s own forces, mutual aid crews from Topeka, Kansas, will on Monday assist in the massive restoration effort. Central Hudson has also retained 41 line clearance crews and 13 contractor line crews, and continues to solicit additional field forces through the mutual aid system as they become available. Meanwhile, the utility is also working with emergency management officials in the counties its serves to address emergencies as quickly as possible.
Laurito reminded customers of the importance of staying away from downed lines and being alert to the possibility that fallen trees or structures may hide energized electric lines. He also cautioned customers to be aware of the lethal potential of flooded basements that may conduct electricity if an electrical panel or appliance has been submerged in water.

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