by Contributor | January 11, 2024 12:32 pm
WATERTOWN — National Grid’s field force of more than 4,200 workers continues to battle challenging weather conditions as they restore service to customers affected by the destructive winter storm that began in upstate New York Tuesday.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, the company has restored service to 182,800 of the more than 202,100 upstate New York customers affected by the storm. In Northern New York, 60,400 of the 76,100 affected customers have had power restored.
The storm brought damaging gale-force winds – including a 78 mph hurricane-force wind gust recorded at Watertown Municipal Airport on Tuesday evening – and heavy rain to much of the region, causing widespread damage to the company’s electric transmission and distribution systems.
Crews confronted impassable roads and difficult-to-reach equipment repairs in remote areas. Reports of debris-covered streets with wires down in cities and villages challenged cleanup efforts as municipalities and National Grid had to take additional time to make areas safe so that roads could be open. Persistent poor weather has presented additional challenges. On Wednesday, crews faced rain, and continuing high winds with gusts of 45-57 mph. A lake effect snow band also developed on Wednesday, bringing snow and high winds to parts of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. These conditions are expected to continue through late Thursday evening
“Our crews have encountered a one-two punch of extensive damage caused by the wind storm and continuing poor weather conditions,” said Matt Barnett, Vice President of New York Electric Operations. “Our field team is out in full force to restore service to our customers as quickly and safely as possible in the face of difficult circumstances.”
Estimated Times of Restoration for Northern New York Customers
The company is providing the following general estimated times of restoration for customers who remain without service in Northern New York. Power is being consistently restored to customers in this region and ETRs are updated on the company’s Outage Central[1] site. Additionally, customers can check on the power restoration estimate for their specific address by logging into the Report or Check an Outage[2] page.
Customers without service in the hardest hit areas of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties are projected to have power restored by 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Isolated and scattered single customer outages in the hardest-to-access areas could potentially extend into Friday. National Grid crews will do everything within their control to complete restoration as quickly as possible.
The company’s extensive resources will remain in the region until the last outage is repaired.
Barnett added, “I want to extend my gratitude to the many police, fire, public works, municipal officials, and other volunteers who continue to support our customers and our communities during the post-storm recovery.”
Dry Ice and Bottled Water Locations
National Grid will distribute dry ice and bottled water at targeted locations hit hardest by the storm. Customers are asked to bring a cooler or paper grocery bags to transport dry ice to their homes, and company personnel will provide information about the proper handling of dry ice.
All locations open January 11, 2024, from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Jefferson County
St. Lawrence County
Additional distribution sites and times may be announced depending on community needs. Thursday’s locations, as well as any new sites, will be listed on National Grid’s Outage Map[3], on the company’s X (formerly known as Twitter)[4] and Facebook[5] accounts, and announced to media via press releases[6].
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Safety Near Downed Power Lines
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