LIPA's Storm Center Update - November 3rd - Hurricane Sandy

John Mitty Saturday, November 3, 2012

Over Half a Million Customers Have Been Restored

We continue to make significant headway in our restoration efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. As of 8:00 this morning, LIPA has restored service more than 600,000 customers, with approximately 450,000 still without power. Well over half of the customers who lost power due to the devastating storm are now restored.

We are restoring power to tens of thousands of customers each day and expect to have over 700,000 customers restored by the end of the day on Sunday, November 4th.

By end of the day Wednesday, November 7th, we expect to restore power to 90% of all customers whose homes and businesses that are safe to accept power.

Additionally, those customers in and around the most severely damaged areas of Brookville, St. James and Port Jefferson should expect to be restored in up to another week or more.

Our latest damage reports from the field have confirmed significant widespread damage from Hurricane Sandy, the likes of which we have never experienced on Long Island. At this time, we currently estimate that there are up to 100,000 customers from the most severely flooded areas whose homes and businesses may currently be unable to receive power. LIPA is working with local authorities in these communities to determine whether and when these homes and businesses will be fit to safely receive electric service.

Please be assured, we are working around the clock, seven days a week, to restore service as safely and quickly as the situation allows and we continue to request and receive additional critical support resources, with personnel arriving each day. Currently there are approximately 8,000 people supporting the restoration effort including over 3,800 high voltage and tree trim crews working on the LIPA system. More than 2,000 additional high voltage and tree trim crews are arriving today.

To date, LIPA has restored the majority of its substations that were out of power, having restored the transmission backbone supplying these substations. This is significant because it is these electrical facilities that allow us to bring the power to the local neighborhoods.

We've also made progress towards restoring some normalcy to the lives of Long Islanders by getting power restored to critical health facilities, many areas of public safety, many schools and key components of the electric system.

In the meantime, we realize that many of our customers are without heat. As temperatures drop, we urge you to please take caution. If you are cold, consider finding shelter elsewhere. To find a shelter near you, text SHELTER and your zip code to #43362 (4FEMA). Or, you can reach the American Red Cross at 1-877-733-2767.

Safety should always be your first priority.  If you see any downed wire, stay away from it, keep others away, and report it to LIPA immediately at 1-800-490-0075 or 631-755-6900.  Always treat any downed wire as if it is a live electric wire.  Keep in mind that wires can become entangled in and hidden from view by storm debris.

Please stay clear of crews working in your neighborhood.  Restoration work requires well-established safety procedures, including clearance zones around work sites.

So that all employees can continue to support our restoration effort, LIPA walk-in customer offices will remain closed until at least Wednesday, November 7th. Stay connected with us online or via mobile web at www.lipower.org for updates or call our automated telephone system at 1-800-490-0075.

We will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available. We thank you for your patience in these difficult circumstances.

Please Note: Due to scheduled system maintenance, outage reporting and status updates will be unavailable online and by text messaging from 12:45 AM until approximately 3:30 AM, Sunday, November 4th. You can report a power outage anytime by calling 1-800-490-0075.

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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