Tropical Storm Isaias damage in Astoria Tuesday (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
Aug. 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Tens of thousands of Queens residents are without power this morning after Tropical Storm Isaias toppled trees and damaged power lines Tuesday — and they may not get it back for days.
In total, 257,000 customers — including those in Westchester County — lost power. The storm caused the second largest power outage in Con Edison’s history — only one-upped by Superstorm Sandy’s damage in 2012.
Queens was knocked the hardest of the five boroughs, where more than 45,000 residents don’t have working power. According to the Con Edison outage map, 46,450 customers in the borough still do not have power as of this morning.
Staten Island comes next where 29,000 customers lost power, followed by the Bronx with 23,000 and Brooklyn with 16,000. Manhattan was largely untouched with just 69 residents losing power.
Some residents could be without power for days. Con Edison said that it’s “clear the restoration of all customers will take multiple days.”
The company has already restored service to more than 48,000 customers across the greater New York City region and is bringing an additional 500 workers to help replace poles, wires, transformers and other damaged equipment.
Some neighborhoods in Queens saw greater outages than others. College Point, Maspeth, Middle Village, St. Albans and Ozone Park had large numbers of customers without power, according to the Con Edison outage map.
Customers can report outages and check restoration status at conEd.com/reportoutage, or with Con Edison’s mobile app for iOS or Android devices, or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).
Customers who report outages will receive updates from Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as the information becomes available. They can sign up for text alerts at conEd.com/text.
The company is reminding residents to stay away from downed wires and treat all downed wires as if they are live. They should report all downed wires to Con Edison or their local police department immediately.
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