August 11,2009

National Grid reports that final restoration efforts are underway following a severe thunderstorm that produced heavy lightning, intense rains, strong winds and flash flooding throughout Western New York Sunday night.

As of 11 a.m. today, the company has restored service to 20,000 homes and businesses throughout the region, down from a peak of more than 21,000 who were without power late Sunday. Remaining restoration work will continue throughout today in the hardest hit areas in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, where road closures and flooding have delayed restoration efforts.

National Grid mobilized all available local resources, and has deployed additional crews from other upstate New York regions to the restoration effort. Any customers without power are asked to call the National Grid Customer Service Center at 1-800-642-4272. Some customers who have recently been returned to service may experience brief outages so that crews can make the permanent repairs.

Safety and preparedness are primary concerns in a major storm, and National Grid is urging its customers to use extreme caution in the remaining storm damage areas.

National Grid offers the following tips for customers to minimize inconvenience and maximize safety in the event that storm-related power interruptions do occur.
1. 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 or your local emergency response organization.
2. If you 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 the safety of crews working to restore power.
3. If you lose power, turn off any appliances that were on when the power went off, but leave one light on so you will know when power is restored.
4. Power problems can sometimes interrupt public water supply systems or disable well pumps, so it’s an especially good idea to keep a supply of bottled drinking water handy, as well as some canned food.
5. People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a National Grid life support customer, call the company’s Customer Service Center. In New York, that number is 1-800-642-4272.

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.