National Grid Restores Power to 98 Percent of Customers Impacted by Wind Storm

Crews will continue restoration efforts in western New York until last customer is restored

Public asked to exercise caution when driving near utility and storm-response personnel

BUFFALO, NY - National Grid’s western New York field force of more than 1,500 workers has successfully restored power to 98 percent of the nearly 88,000 customers impacted by the damaging wind storm that pummeled the region Sunday and Monday. The remaining 1,500 customers without service in the hardest hit neighborhoods of Buffalo, Niagara Falls and surrounding areas are expected to have power restored hour-by-hour as crews continue to work around the clock. The company’s extensive resources will remain in the region until the last outage is repaired.

“This was an extremely damaging storm,” said Ken Kujawa, National Grid’s western New York regional director. “We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as our intensive restoration work continues. We also are grateful for the many police, fire, public works, municipal officials, and other volunteers who did so much to support our customers and our communities.”

National Grid is offering customers dry ice and bottled water at the following locations beginning at 9 a.m. today. Customers are asked to bring a cooler or shopping bag to transport their dry ice home.

Harlem Road Community Center, 4255 Harlem Road, Amherst

Gloria J. Parks Community Center, 3242 Main Street, Buffalo

Crews have been working around the clock since the damaging wind storm, with gusts of 75 mph, began Sunday morning. They removed hundreds of downed wires, trees, tree limbs, and other hazards so they could safely complete the labor-intensive process of reconstruction and restoration in the region.

While National Grid expects power to be restored to all impacted circuits tonight, there may be instances of damage to individual customer’s electricity service. Any customer who remains without power should call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 for assistance.

Once restoration is completed, National Grid crews will remain in the field for the next few days as storm clean up continues. The company reminds drivers to use extreme caution as they approach work areas, to ensure the safety of utility and other storm-response personnel. Additionally, customers are reminded to avoid downed wires. All wires should be considered live power lines and should be immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

Stay informed and connected:

• For real-time power outage information, online outage reporting, and in-depth storm safety information, visit National Grid’s Outage Central website. Customers who create an online profile also can sign up for email alerts.
• To receive text message alerts and updates from National Grid, text the word STORM to NGRID (64743). Online and text alert services can be started and stopped at the customer’s request.
• Visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com, follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook.