Power Outages Cropping Up In High Winds: Orange & Rockland Utilities (2024)

Weather

A wind advisory is in effect until 11 p.m., so O&R has nearly tripled the size of its overhead line workforce.

Posted Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 12:06 pm ET|Updated Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 12:14 pm ET

At 11:50 a.m., 2,768 customers were out of service as a result of storm damage. Their location and number were:

NEW YORK: 2,023

• Rockland County: 272
• Orange County: 1,642
• Sullivan County: 184

NEW JERSEY: 745

• Bergen County: 99
• Passaic County:645
• Sussex County: 1

A wind advisory is in effect until 11 p.m.; the National Weather Service warned that isolated gusts around 60 mph are possible. "Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution," the NWS said.

SEE ALSO: Heavy Winds Take Out Power In Parts Of Ulster County

Orange and Rockland Utilities acquired 200 additional overhead line contractors in preparation for Monday morning mobilization of the company’s emergency response team. Those new contractors, added to O&R’s existing team of overhead line workers, nearly tripled the size of O&R’s overhead line workforce for the windstorm, company officials said.

O&R company and contractor overhead line crews and tree removal experts, customer service operators and the entire O&R emergency response team were activated and deployed at 6 a.m. Monday.

For safety’s sake, O&R warns the public not to touch or approach any downed wire. Assume the wire is energized and dangerous. Report the downed wire to O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also consider calling your local police to divert traffic from the downed wire’s location until an O&R crew arrives.

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:

• Report an Electric Service Problem | Orange & Rockland (oru.com) from any computer or web-based mobile device.
• O&R 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
• Call 1-877-434-4100.

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

Restoring Service

Once the weather clears enough to safely assess damage and begin electric service restoration, O&R 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 as quickly as possible. Then, crews will restore smaller outages and individual customers’ outages.

Important Safety Tips

• For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.
• 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 to 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.

How To Prepare Your EV for A Power Outage

• Just as is the case with traditional gasoline vehicles, you need to ensure your electric car is fueled up in the event there is a power outage that lasts longer than expected.
• Guidance is to always keep your EV charged between 75-90 percent in case of an emergency.
• Can’t charge at home? Take your vehicle to a publicly accessible Level 2 or DCFC Fast Charger.