New York Governor Declares State of Emergency In 4 Counties, National Guard Deployed

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More than 182,000 customers without power

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today declared a state of emergency in Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Westchester counties as they continue to recover from the intense winter storm that impacted New York over the past several days. Additionally, the Governor announced the deployment of an additional 100 members of the New York National Guard to further assist communities with recovery efforts.The New York State Emergency Operations Center also remains open to further support local and state partners during recovery operations.

“In the wake of this week’s destructive winter storm, I am declaring a state of emergency across Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Westchester Counties and am doubling the deployment of National Guard members assisting with recovery operations,” Governor Cuomo said. “This is an all-hands-on-deck situation and the people of the Hudson Valley should know that New York State is doing everything we can to restore power and help them recover as quickly as possible.”

This complex winter storm left more than 360,000 New Yorkers without power at its height as a result of dangerously strong winds, rain and snow that took down trees, branches, and power lines. Sustained winds of over 30 mph, with gusts of 50 mph to over 60 mph, were recorded in the lower Hudson Valley.

On Saturday, the Governor announced the deployment of an initial 100 National Guard members and 30 vehicles out of Camp Smith in Westchester County to assist state, county and local officials with recovery efforts ranging from debris clearance to traffic control. The total deployment now stands at 200. Crews from the New York State Department of Transportation have also been dispatched to assist localities with storm cleanup and debris removal as well as to support for utility restoration operations. In the Southern Tier and Hudson Valley regions, the Department has deployed more than 1,000 operators and supervisors, 388 large dump trucks, 23 chippers, three tree crew bucket trucks, 12 signal trucks, and 91 loaders.

Power Outages

Currently, there are more than 182,000 customers without power as a result of the storm. Of that, more than three-quarters of the outages are centered in Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Westchester Counties. New York’s utilities have a total of 4,910 in-house workers and contractors working on storm restoration efforts. This total includes resources obtained through mutual assistance. Con Edison has 424 line and tree workers on hand, plus 341additional contractors; Central Hudson has 300 line and tree workers on hand, plus 343 additional contractors; PSEG Long Island has 705 line and tree workers, including 300 FEMA contractors, along with 75 additional contractors; National Grid has 1,200 line and tree workers on hand, NYSEG and RG&E have 783 line and tree workers on hand, plus 443 additional contractors and O&R has 290 line and tree workers on hand. Utility contractors are en route or already assisting from as far north as Canada, and as far west as Texas.

The New York State Power Authority has deployed its transmission team to Central Hudson to help fix their 69 KV sub transmission system and 40 line workers and 15 bucket trucks from its municipal utility customers are assisting in the Central Hudson and NYSEG regions. NYPA has activated a contract with Michels, its utility contractor, to send up to 200 line workers from Wisconsin and Iowa to help with restoration efforts.

In addition, NYPA has requested support from ElectriCities of North Carolina via the American Public Power Association mutual assistance process. This includes 18 utility workers and 5 utility trucks from ElectriCities to help Con Edison in Westchester County. ElectriCities has authorized sending additional resources, up to 50 utility workers and 15 utility trucks, as needed. NYPA also obtained resources from Niagara Peninsula, a municipal utility in Ontario, Canada for 10 utility workers and 7 trucks to help Central Hudson.

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