National Grid Restores Power to 85 Percent of Impacted Customers as Severe Weather Continues to Cause New Outages in Upstate NY

An upstate New York field force of more than 1,300 workers continues to make progress restoring electricity to customers impacted by high winds and heavy rains that began last night and are expected to continue into late this evening. National Grid has restored service to nearly 44,000 of the 56,500 upstate N.Y. customers impacted by the storm’s damage, however new outages are occurring with the ongoing strong winds and rain.

Gusts of up to 55 mph resulted in widespread, extensive tree damage across portions of the company’s 25,000-square-mile service area. The storm’s damage was made worse because many trees still had their leaves, which added to the weight of the branches as they hit power lines. National Grid workers are focused on damage assessment and on the time-consuming, labor-intensive work of removing downed trees and tree limbs, replacing broken poles and damaged transformers, and replacing feeder lines and circuits.

While the storm affected many areas of upstate, the most severe damage was seen in eastern New York, where 9,200 customers are without service, primarily in the hard-hit areas of Troy, Albany, Ticonderoga, and Glens Falls. There are fewer than 3,000 customers without power in central and northern New York, primarily in Volney, Pulaski, Malone, and Saranac. National Grid will continue to work around the clock to restore service as soon as possible. Some interruptions impacting single customers and small groups of customers in the hardest hit areas may not be restored until tomorrow evening. Restoration times will be updated on www.NationalGrid.com as crews make progress and National Grid redeploys resources from areas where power has been restored to areas still without service.

“Our crews have made significant progress in very tough conditions and we have received outstanding support from state, county and local first-responders and emergency coordinators,” said Melanie Littlejohn, National Grid’s New York vice president. “However there is challenging work ahead and we will continue to work through the adverse weather until we have connected every customer.”

Electricity Safety

National Grid asks customers to stay alert for electricity service interruptions:

• Never touch downed power lines; always assume they are carrying live electricity. If you see a downed line, report it immediately to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or your local emergency response organization.
• Keep National Grid’s power outage reporting number – 1-800-867-5222 – on hand. If an outage occurs, customers should call this number to expedite restoration.
• If you use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to only operate it outdoors. Regardless of ventilation, never operate a generator indoors. Before operating a generator, be sure to disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker, located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could endanger our crews and your neighbors.
• Our customers who depend on electrically powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should register as a life support customer by calling National Grid’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-642-4272. (In a medical emergency, always dial 911.)
• In the event of flooding, customers are urged to stay out of basements and away from electric service panels, and away from electric or natural gas appliances that may have been flooded.  Services should be inspected by a qualified service technician before being put back into use.

Gas Safety

If you smell gas, (the odor is similar to rotten eggs), immediately leave your home and call 911 or National Grid at 800-892-2345 from a safe location. Don’t light a match or smoke, turn appliances on or off (including flashlights), use a telephone or start a car. Doing so can produce sparks that might cause the gas to ignite. Remember: Smell gas. Act fast.

Carbon Monoxide

• The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to those of the flu.  Depending upon the amount of carbon monoxide in the air and length of exposure, symptoms may include headaches, weakness, confusion, chest tightness, skin redness, dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, fluttering of the heart or loss of muscle control.

• If you suspect carbon monoxide is present in your home, go outside immediately and breathe deeply; then call 911. If symptoms are severe, get medical attention right away.

Stay Connected

National Grid offers several ways to stay informed and safe – before, during and after a storm:

• For real-time power outage information, online outage reporting, and in-depth storm safety information, visit the Outage Central section of our website, www.nationalgridus.com. Customers who create an online profile on our website can also sign up for email alerts.
• To receive text message alerts and updates from National Grid, text the word STORM to NGRID (64743).
• Online and text alert services can be started and stopped at the customer’s request.
• Other ways to stay in touch:

• Visit our website: nationalgridus.com
• Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nationalgridus
• Friend us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/nationalgrid

Click here for a video on how National Grid restores power after a major storm.

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es widespread power outages, electric companies must respond safely, swiftly, and efficiently to restore service to affected customers. Given the size and strength of Hurricane Irma, the storm is likely to be one of the largest industry restoration efforts in U.S. history.