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The Village of Lewiston DPW was busy hauling brush away Saturday morning in the wake of Friday night's storm.
The Village of Lewiston DPW was busy hauling brush away Saturday morning in the wake of Friday night's storm.
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National Grid responding to severe thunder, lightning storms

by jmaloni

Press release

Sat, Jul 20th 2013 02:30 pm

Electric line and tree crews are dedicated to restoring power to the approximately 28,500 customers that lost power throughout Western New York

National Grid crews have been working through the night responding to downed wire calls, assessing damage and restoring service after strong thunder and lightning storms and damaging high winds moved through upstate New York Friday evening.

At its peak, about 75,000 customers in upstate New York lost power due to the storm. About 28,500 customers were in the Western New York region, primarily in Erie and Niagara counties.

In Western New York, there are currently approximately 16,000 customers without power. While National Grid expect to continue restoring customers through the day today, many customers in the hardest hit areas will have power restored by later Sunday, barring additional storms that may move through the region today and tonight.

Crews are replacing broken poles and repairing down wires throughout the storm-affected regions.

"This was a fast moving, but very severe storm that came with extremely high winds and caused extensive damage to our electric system," said Ken Daly, National Grid president, New York state. "We remain in close contact with local emergency response teams and local officials as we move from damage assessment to restoration efforts today."

Hundreds of electric and line and tree crews are dedicated to the restoration efforts across upstate New York.

In Lewiston, Department of Public Works crews were busy hauling large piles of brush from North Fourth and Oneida streets and throughout the village.

Stay Safe After the Storm

National Grid offers the following tips for customers to minimize inconvenience and maximize safety as restoration efforts continue.

  • Never touch downed power lines, and always assume that any fallen lines are live electric wires. If you see one, report it immediately to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

  • People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a life support customer, call the company's customer service center at 1-800-642-4272.

  • It's a good idea to have a number of working flashlights, at least one battery-operated radio, and an extra supply of batteries in your home. A radio is a good way to stay in touch, as National Grid provides news media with timely information regarding service restoration efforts.

  • If you plan to use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to only operate it outdoors. Before operating generators, be sure to disconnect from National Grid's system by shutting off the main breaker located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could jeopardize crew safety.

National Grid provides several ways for customers to learn about and report power outages during storms. To receive free text message alerts and updates, text the word STORM to NGRID (64743). Email alerts are available to customers who create an online profile on the company's website. All alert services can be started and stopped at the customer's request.

Customers can see real-time outage information and report an outage at www.nationalgridus.com in the "Outage Central" section of the company Web pages. Customers also can access "Outage Central" by entering the Web address on their mobile device.

National Grid also provides storm and restoration updates through Facebook and Twitter.

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