Thousands of residents remain without power days after storm
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Among the hardest hit areas from the Oct. 12 storm, sections of the Town of Amherst were still in the dark days after the storm subsided.

As of Tuesday, 26,312 National Grid customers in the town remained without power.

Sgt. Detective Michael Torrillo of the Amherst Police Department was stationed at the command post and said the number was down from 33,776 residences and businesses who were without power on Monday.

"Every day it's looking brighter and brighter," he said about the effort to restore power.

But unfortunately for some town residents, power may not be restored until late Sunday. Torrillo said National Grid reported on Tuesday morning that the current problem is accessing back yards to work on poles and wires.

Another problem in restoring power is that transformers are shorting out when they are put back on line.

National Grid was reporting that more than 1,000 crew members were added to the work force this past weekend. In total, 3,000 field workers and support workers were in the area.

In the Town of Amherst, 82 line crews and 95 tree crews were assigned to deal with the town's power outages, Torrillo said. In addition, National Guard members arrived in the area Tuesday and were assigned to work with a National Grid crew to identify any wires that remain down.

The field workers include line crews, forestry workers, service crews and survey assessment staff. The workers include National Grid employees from New York and New England, mutual aid crews from neighboring utilities, and qualified contractors. Crews from Canada and 10 states, including Virginia and Kentucky, are part of the restoration plan, National Grid reported on its Web site.

What once was reported as 260,000 National Grid customers without power was reduced to 80,000 on Sunday. Although exact numbers were not reported as of Tuesday, power was being steadily restored each day.

The power lines were taken out when thousands of trees broke under the pressure of the more than 20 inches of snow, as well as

the strong winds. National Grid reported that the storm created an unprecedented level of damage to the Western New York service territory.

NYSEG reported on Tuesday that service has been restored to approximately 100,000 of the 132,000 NYSEG customers who lost electricity service. Approximately 32,000 NYSEG customers in Erie County were still without power.

Customers without power who have not yet reported it or customers who need to report a hazardous situation such as downed wires should contact NYSEG at 1-800-572-1131.

Any customers who live in the restored communities and still do not have power should call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that after two days a freezer will begin to warm, with the duration being just four hours for a refrigerator. Dairy, meat and perishable foods should be thrown out.

Supervisor Satish Mohan said approximately 90 percent of the town lost power.