Power outages possible
Major power outages are possible, especially given the hit the power grid took during the earlier March nor’easter.
On Monday, New York’s Westchester County Board of Legislators held a special meeting on the massive power outages caused by the previous storms, grilling representatives of Con Ed and NYSEG, CBS New York reports.
Many customers in Westchester are still frustrated with the delayed response to power outages after those storms downed trees and power lines.
“There were three cables on the street, a pole with the transformer, a tree came down,” said Mamaroneck resident Karen Fontecchio.
In New Jersey, cleanup from March’s previous storms was still ongoing.
By Tuesday evening, Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency. He said the biggest shortfall during the last storm was the performance by utility companies, which the board of public utilities was investigating.
“We’re also, preemptively in this storm to get work, to nudge them and all others ahead of this,” Murphy said. “That encourages them bringing in other men and women from our sister utilities, which they are apparently doing.”
PSE&G says it has mobilized nearly 600 mutual aid and contract employees ahead of the storm. JCP&L representative Ron Morano says wind is once again a major concern. In preparation for Wednesday, the company is bringing in extra workers from Ohio and setting up two more staging areas in Ocean and Essex County.
In addition, the utility company will have a daily call with local officials to get feedback and response.
Electrician Mike Lettera of Big Electric in Paramus says generator installations were at an all-time high.
