LIPA Responds to Severe & Sudden Wind Storm Classic "Gold Coast" Tree-Related Storm Damage 15,000 Outages Logged in Less Than One Hour Uniondale, NY - January 18, 2006 -- Approximately 35,000 customers in the Long Island Power Authority's (LIPA) service area lost power earlier today as a result of a sudden and violent wind storm that whipped across the island, according to LIPA Chairman Richard M. Kessel. The bulk of the outages occurred between the hours of 7:00AM and 11:00AM, but the highest number of outages occurred between 8AM and 9AM when some 15,000 outages occurred in less than 60 minutes. Currently, as of 1:45PM, approximately 22,000 customers have been restored to service - 95% of that number in four hours or less - and some 13,000 customers are without power as a result of the storm that produced sustained winds of 30 to 35 miles per hour (MPH) and gusts possibly as high as 60 MPH. LIPA anticipates that additional outages will occur later this afternoon and this evening as the winds pick up again between 4PM and 8PM. "This was a fast-moving, hard-hitting storm that caused a significant number of outages within a very short period of time mostly in the towns of North Hempstead, Oyster Bay and Huntington," said Mr. Kessel. "Large trees were blown down which in turn brought down dozens of poles, pole-top transformers and wires. "It's a classic 'Gold Coast' storm, because areas along the North Shore, with some of the oldest and highest concentration of trees, were hit the hardest," said Mr. Kessel. Nearly 390 high-voltage service personnel, 54 low-voltage service personnel, and 120 tree trimmers will be working an extended 16-hour shift through the day, tonight and into tomorrow to make service restorations and system repairs as quickly as possible. Most service restoration will be made by around midnight, with some areas with extensive and hard to reach damage - such as North Shore locations with rear yard service - will experience extended outages that will take "It's been a tough four-day period for wind-related outages," said Mr. Kessel. "On Sunday, high gusting winds caused 27,217 outages. 78% of all customers were returned to service within 4 hours or less, and all service was restored by early Monday morning. "Today's storm presented similar challenges," said Mr. Kessel, "but, as is custom, the crews will be working long and hard, in terrible weather conditions, to restore power to LIPA's customers as quickly as possible. And extra Call Center personnel will be on staff to take emergency "We appreciate their hard work and dedication, and applaud their extraordinary efforts," said Mr. Kessel. To report an outage, LIPA customers should call 1-800-490-0075. To monitor the storm-related outages, go to the Storm Center on LIPA's Web site: www.lipower.org. Be Safe Be Prepared We encourage customers to prepare for the possibility of a power outage * Stay away from all downed lines LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric utility, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to over 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. In terms of customers served, LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal electric utility in the nation and the 6th largest in terms of electricity delivered. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island electric generating assets. ### Contact Information:
LIPA Press Release 1/18/06 5:21 PM Eastern |
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