Thousands of Clarkstown and other Rockland residents were without power the afternoon of Thursday, July 3, with Orange & Rockland Utilities estimating a restoration time for some customers to be 7 a.m. Friday, July 4.
In total, approximately 10,400 customers were affected, Clarkstown Police Department said in a release posted to social media. Service was mostly restored by 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
“The Clarkstown Police Department has fielded numerous calls regarding this outage,” the post reads. “Orange & Rockland crews are actively working to restore service as quickly as possible. At this time, the majority of impacted customers have had power restored.
“Residents may still experience isolated outages in some areas while crews continue repairs.”
At around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, more than 8,700 customers were reportedly without power. By 4:50 p.m., that number had dwindled to 1,860— with 1,259 of those customers in Clarkstown alone.
A cause for the outage was not yet known to reporters. The Journal News reached out to O&R, as well as Clarkstown Police Department and had not yet heard back at the time of this story.
Read on to learn what to do in case a power outage affects your home.
≽ ≽ Check out our live power outage map to track outages from across the country.
How to track power outages in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam
You can check out utility company outage maps by clicking on the links below.
How to report power outages if you are a ConEd, NYSEG or O&R customer
The easiest way to report a power outage, and get updates on estimated restoration times, is to do so via your utility provider’s website.
You can click here to report a power outage if you are a ConEd customer, which will sign you up automatically for restoration updates, to be received via text or phone call. You can also text REG to 688-243 to get the process started.
NYSEG customers can do the same by heading to this website and providing either a phone number or account number. Customers can also call 1-800-572-1131 to report outages. The utility reminds customers to stay away from downed power lines, “even lines that appear dead can be energized.”
“Also, stay out of flooded basements. If you suspect a natural gas leak, get up, get out, and get away,” the NYSEG website says.
If you’re an O&R customer, report your service outage here. Orange & Rockland says customers should call 9-1-1 if they smell gas or suspect a gas leak, rather than reporting it via the website.
Contributing: lohud’s Alexandra Rivera and Ashley C. Fontones
(This story may update.)
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lights come back on for Clarkstown residents after thousands experience power outage
Reporting by Ashley Catherine Fontones, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
