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Storm Watch: O&R Prepares Emergency Response as T-Storms Due Early Thursday

  • ORANGE & ROCKLAND MEDIA RELATIONS

  • Pearl River – junio 08, 2022 -- 12:30

O&R is activating its company-wide emergency response group to repair damage and restore electric service interruptions that could result Thursday from early morning scattered rain and locally heavy downpours and mid-day gusty winds and thunderstorms --- some possibly severe --- that are expected to drench the area.

O&R’s company and contractor overhead line crews and its tree removal experts are mobilizing for deployment Thursday morning. Customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions also will shift into storm alert then.

O&R Warns

For safety’s sake, O&R warns the public not to touch or approach any downed wire. Assume all downed wires are energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you also should consider calling your local police to assume traffic control duties at the scene until an O&R crew arrives.

Weather Forecast

On Thursday, a low-pressure system will bring scattered showers, thunderstorms and locally heavy downpours from about 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. Isolated severe thunderstorms could develop between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Severe thunderstorms can produce wind gusts higher than 57 mph, hail larger than one inch in diameter or possibly tornadoes. Gusty winds will take shape during this period, gusting 30 mph to 40 mph between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday. Winds ease late Thursday night.

For the latest information about power outages, please view O&R’s Outage Map.

For a brief video that provides a step-by-step guide to the Outage Map’s basic operation:

In English: https://players.brightcove.net/954168402001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6294163407001

In Spanish: https://players.brightcove.net/954168402001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6300993524001

Restoring Service

Once the weather clears enough to safely assess damage and begin electric service restoration, crews will give priority to clearing downed wires blocking roads and making repairs to critical and emergency facilities (police and fire stations, and hospitals, for example) and to those locations where the repair will provide power to the largest number of customers quickly. Then, crews will restore smaller outages and individual customers’ outages.

How to Report an Outage

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:

  • At www.oru.com/ReportOutage from any computer or web-based mobile device.
  • O&R’s mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device --- download via Apple Store or Google Play.
  • Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or · A phone call to 1-877-434-4100.

Important Safety Tips

  • 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.

About O&R

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.

O&R’s Customers

O&R serves the following communities in New York: Airmont, Bloomingburg, Blooming Grove, Chester Town, Chester Village, Chestnut Ridge, Clarkstown, Crawford, Deerpark, Florida, Forestburgh, Goshen Town, Goshen Village, Grand View, Greenwood Lake, Greenville, Harriman, Haverstraw Town, Haverstraw Village, Highland Falls, Highlands, Hillburn, Kaser, Kiryas Joel, Lumberland, Mamakating, Middletown, Minisink, Monroe Town, Monroe Village, Montebello, Mount Hope, New Hempstead, New Square, Nyack, Orangetown, Otisville, Palm Tree, Piermont, Pomona, Port Jervis, Ramapo, Sloatsburg, South Blooming Grove, South Nyack, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern, Tuxedo Town, Tuxedo Park, Unionville, Upper Nyack, Wesley Hills, Wallkill, Warwick Town, Warwick Village, Washingtonville, Wawayanda, West Haverstraw, Woodbury, Woodbury Village, Wurtsboro.

O&R, as Rockland Electric Company, serves the following communities in New Jersey: Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Mahwah, Haworth (part), Montague, Montvale, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan (part), Ramsey, Ringwood, Rivervale (part), Rockleigh, Saddle River (part), Upper Saddle River, Wantage (part), Vernon (part), West Milford (part), Wyckoff (part).

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