Utility Says Damage From Weekend Storm Worse Than Hurricane Irene

According to an update Orange & Rockland posted to its website Thursday, the October 29 snowstorm has caused so much damage that crews are working through “dozens of repairs” to restore electric service to individual neighborhoods.

The storm “caused unprecedented destruction and topped even Hurricane Irene, which affected 120,000 customers,” the release said.

The utility said it began bringing in crews from states as far as Florida and Michigan to help repair infrastructure and restore power.

“O&R mobilized its entire company workforce and contractors on Saturday in advance of the storm. Since then the Company has augmented its workforce with additional mutual aid personnel who began arriving Sunday and continue to arrive through [Thursday],” the release said.

According to O&R, 90 percent of the 130,000 customers who had power knocked out by the storm should have it restored by midnight Thursday. The rest should be back on line this weekend.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, over 700 customers in Mahwah were still without power.

The utility posted two safety warnings to keep in mind during the restoration process:

• “Always assume downed power lines are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep a distance of at least 50 feet away from them and call O&R at 1-877-434-4100.”
• “Do not try to use a gas oven or range to heat a room or use grills indoors. These appliances will deplete oxygen from the air, resulting in possible carbon monoxide poisoning.”