Crews of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., assisted by mutual aid line and tree workers from outside the region, tackled fallen trees, downed limbs and broken poles today to clear roads and restore power to customers affected by Wednesday’s winter storm. As of 4 p.m., power was restored to more than 48,000 customers since Wednesday morning, and fewer than 22,000 customers remain without electric service. The storm, the second in five days, dropped a foot or more of heavy snow, weighing down trees and breaking limbs onto power lines. The hardest hit areas remain in Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties, and more than 600 damage locations are being addressed throughout the region. As a result of this storm, more than one million power outages were reported in the Northeast.
“Our crews are being assisted by mutual aid line workers who were retained after working with us during the last storm, to help expedite repairs and shorten the duration of outages,” said Charles A. Freni, senior vice president of Customer Services and Transmission & Distribution Operations. He said 15 additional line workers are arriving today to join the restoration efforts. In all, a field force of 560 electric line and tree trimming workers are repairing storm damage and restoring electric service, with additional assistance by hundreds of support staff.
“Crews are finding significant damage caused by this storm, and are working to clear trees, remove pole and repair wires,” said Freni. Electric service is expected to be restored to the vast majority of customers in southern Dutchess, Putnam and Greene counties tonight; and in central and northern Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties by Friday night. Some repairs may continue into Saturday.
Dry ice and bottled water are being distributed, and locations and times, when known, are posted on the storm resource page at www.CentralHudson.com and on Central Hudson’s social media channels.
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