Outages Expected, Crews On Storm Alert: Halloween Hudson Valley

PEARL RIVER, NY — O&R has issued a Storm Alert and mobilized its workforce for what's expected to be a wild and stormy Halloween night with high, gusty winds, heavy rain and isolated severe thunderstorms.

Utility crews will be standing by to repair damage and restore power outages that could result from the storm due to pound the region in the evening and overnight into Friday morning, with the highest winds expected between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The company is preparing for a high-volume outage response to the storm, including line crews and damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions. O&R also has hired more than 80 extra mutual aid overhead line technicians to supplement its field teams.

Storm activity, particularly the high winds predicted for late tonight and early Friday, have the potential to cause power line damage and electric service interruptions.

O&R officials remind everyone to consider the poor weather conditions expected and the potential for tree and power line damage when making plans for trick-or-treating or other outdoor activities scheduled for children.

Downed power lines are very dangerous. For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.

Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.

The already rain-soaked ground and a remaining partial canopy of leaves could cause tree damage. O&R crews will be ready to respond to those events as needed.

Weather forecasters expect O&R’s service area to get up to 2 inches of rain from early this evening through the night into Friday morning with some scattered severe thunderstorms possible.

In addition for that period, winds are expected to be sustained at 25 mph with gusts overnight tonight into Friday morning of 35 to as much as 50 mph. The storm is expected to begin to subside after 6 a.m. Friday.

There are several ways customers can report outages and check service restoration status:

• Go to the O&R website from any computer or web-enabled mobile device;
• Use the O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device;
• Text “OUT” to 69678 (myORU); or
• Call Customer Assistance at 1-877-434-4100

For more information, visit O&R’s Storm Center at www.oru.com.

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