Con Edison Crews Ready for Tropical Storm Isaias

Con Edison is prepared to respond to any service problems caused by Isaias as the tropical storm bears down on the New York region with forecasted high winds and rain on Tuesday.

Preparations and planning include scheduling extra crews and equipment and designating staging centers for quick responses to problems on the overhead electric system. Damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of Con Edison teams that support those functions also are ready to respond.

Strong winds – forecasted to reach gusts up to 60 mph - may knock trees and branches onto power lines, causing customers to lose service. Once it is safe to assess damages and begin restoration, crews will give priority to making repairs that will provide power to the most customers quickly, then restore smaller groups and individual customers.

The energy company cautions everyone to stay away from downed wires.

Con Edison is sending text messages to customers in all its service areas except Manhattan, where the electric system is totally underground. The messages remind customers to be prepared and to report an outage by simply replying OUT to the text.

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

Con Edison personnel continue to practice social distancing to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. Con Edison is following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines during the health emergency.

Con Edison offers the following storm tips to customers to help weather the possible effects of a storm:

• Do not go near downed wires. Treat all downed wires as if they are live. Never attempt to move them or touch them with your hands of any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by snow, tree limbs, leaves or water.
• Report all downed wires to Con Edison and your local police department immediately. 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.
• Check to make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios or televisions are in working order. Make sure you have a supply of extra batteries. Weather updates and news on restorations of electrical service can be heard on most local radio and television stations.
• For more storm tips and preparation, go to www.conEd.com 

Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or like us on Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information. In addition, the company is in close contact with the New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm response if needed.