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A Storm Watch was issued by the utility company on Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31, as a weather system “packing high, gusty winds, heavy rain, and isolated thunderstorms are expected to pound the region Thursday evening overnight into Friday morning, Nov. 1.”
According to Orange & Rockland, the area is expected to get between .75 and two inches of rain overnight, with scattered thunderstorms expected to strike the area. During the storms, wind gusts may hit up to 50 mph before the weather subsides at around 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 1.
“Storm activity, particularly the high winds predicted for late Thursday and early Friday, have the potential to cause power line damage and electric service interruptions,” the company cautioned. “The already rain-saturated ground and a remaining partial canopy of leaves on the trees could further intensify concerns about tree-damage. (Orange & Rockland( crews will be ready to respond to those events as needed.”
The company noted that company and contractor overhead line crews and tree removal crews are gearing up for a high-volume outage response to the storm, as are damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions. Orange & Rockland has hired an extra 50 mutual aid overhead line technicians to supplement its field teams.
Additionally, Orange & Rockland electric and gas crews are securing active work sites through the day Thursday to prevent wind and water damage from the coming storm.
To help its customers prepare to weather a storm, Orange & Rockland offered these tips:
- For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. 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.
- If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away, and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
- Pole-top transformers --- those small grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles --- also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the ground.
- Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
- Have emergency equipment within reach --- portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Keep O&R’s toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.
- Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.
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