O&R Plans for Possible Power Outages Wednesday, Thanksgiving Thursday

Orange & Rockland is preparing to respond to possible downed power lines and outages on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thanksgiving Thursday as a result of a predicted storm that may bring a mix of strong winds, rain, and snow, the utility announced in a release Tuesday morning.

O&R declared a company-wide storm watch at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

“Heavy winds could knock trees into power lines, causing poles and lines to come down and customers to lose power,” the company said in a release.

“O&R Emergency Response Operations coordinators are meeting throughout the day [Tuesday], examining weather forecasts and generally preparing their organizations for activation. The first-response organizations within the company will be ramped up so they are ready to work at the first sign of storm-related damage.”

If the area does experience power outages as a result of the storm, the utility that serves over 11,000 customers in Mahwah said it will respond to issues in order of severity.

“Depending on the severity of the storm damage, crews will give priority to repairing equipment that will restore power to the most customers as quickly as possible, then move on to restore smaller groups and then individual customers who are without power,” it said in the release.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a 100% chance of precipitation Wednesday and strong winds to continue on Thanksgiving.

• Tuesday: Rain likely, mainly after 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 39. Light southeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
• Tuesday Night: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Temperature rising to around 47 by 5am. Light east wind increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
• Wednesday: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 54. South wind 9 to 17 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
• Wednesday Night: A chance of rain showers before 10pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 10pm and 11pm, then a chance of snow showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. West wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Thanksgiving Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a northwest wind 16 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph.

O&R also issued safety tips for customers to follow during the storm, namely to stay away from and report downed wires. They can be reported to O&R at 1-877-434-4100.