Westchester Insider: Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ben Boykin 5th District: Important Information Regarding Potential Hazards from Elsa.

CON EDISON IS PREPARING FOR ELSA REMNANTS IN NYC AREA.

Con Edison is prepared to respond to any outages or other service problems that occur as the remnants of Tropical Storm Elsa move through the area Friday morning. The company has secured 578 mutual aid crews to work on damage to the overhead system if the storm causes outages. Those workers will supplement the Con Edison overhead crews who will be restoring any affected customers. A storm with heavy winds can knock trees and branches onto overhead lines and cause customers to lose service.

Con Edison urges members of the public to stay away from downed wires, as they may be live. If you see downed wires, report them to your local police department or by calling 1-800-75-CONED. Do not touch downed wires with your hands or any object.

For your safety, Con Edison workers may guard downed wires until crews make repairs. Our personnel may be in unmarked cars but will always have Con Edison identification.

How to Report an Outage

To make reporting easier, on Tuesday, July 6, Con Edison sent 1.7 million customers a text message to enable them to report their outage by replying OUT to the message. Customers who report an outage will get updates on the restoration progress as it becomes available.

Customers can sign up for text alerts at coned.com/text. Customers can also report outages and check service 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 they become available.

Restoration Plan

The priority for restoration will be critical customer facilities that have an impact on the public, such as mass transit, hospitals, police and fire stations, and sewage and water-pumping stations. Crews will then prioritize repairs that will provide power to the largest numbers of customers as quickly as possible, then move on to restore smaller groups and individual customers.

Information on outages and restoration times is available on the Con Edison outage map.

Safety Tips

• If you see downed electrical wires, do not go near them. Report them to Con Edison and your local police department immediately. 
• Treat all downed wires as if they are live. Never attempt to move them or touch them with your hands or any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by tree limbs, leaves or water.
• Members of the public also should avoid transformers that are brought to the ground. The transformers are gray metal drums attached to the wires and poles. 
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing and using a portable generator. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors, or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
• If a power line falls on your car while you’re in it, stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency personnel.
• If your power goes out, disconnect or turn off appliances that would otherwise turn on automatically when service is restored. If several appliances start up at once, the electric circuits may overload.
• Charge your cellphones and other mobile devices while you have power.
• Check to make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios are in working order. Make sure you have a supply of extra batteries.

Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or on Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information. For more tips on storm preparation, go to www.conEd.com.

The company is in contact with the New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm-response if needed.