Tropical Storm Isaias damage in Astoria Tuesday (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
Aug. 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Tens of thousands of Queens residents are without power this morning after Tropical Storm Isaias toppled trees and damaged power lines Tuesday — and they may not get it back for days.
In total, 257,000 customers — including those in Westchester County — lost power. The storm caused the second largest power outage in Con Edison’s history — only one-upped by Superstorm Sandy’s damage in 2012.
Queens was knocked the hardest of the five boroughs, where more than 45,000 residents don’t have working power. According to the Con Edison outage map, 46,450 customers in the borough still do not have power as of this morning.
Staten Island comes next where 29,000 customers lost power, followed by the Bronx with 23,000 and Brooklyn with 16,000. Manhattan was largely untouched with just 69 residents losing power.
Some residents could be without power for days. Con Edison said that it’s “clear the restoration of all customers will take multiple days.”
The company has already restored service to more than 48,000 customers across the greater New York City region and is bringing an additional 500 workers to help replace poles, wires, transformers and other damaged equipment.
Some neighborhoods in Queens saw greater outages than others. College Point, Maspeth, Middle Village, St. Albans and Ozone Park had large numbers of customers without power, according to the Con Edison outage map.
Customers can report outages and check 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 the information becomes available. They can sign up for text alerts at conEd.com/text.
The company is reminding residents to stay away from downed wires and treat all downed wires as if they are live. They should report all downed wires to Con Edison or their local police department immediately.
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12 Comments
most of the communities affected were white…I hate these racist storms…we need more equity in damage caused by acts of god…DeBlasio should send out social workers to cut down trees in minority communities for justice…
Just another example of how this city and state is a place of have and have nots.
Knowing the neighborhoods most affected are the ones that made it miserable for cars to get around. Guess you got your barriers now…made of trees.
I spotted many tree lovers saying goodbye and hugging some trees one last time. I never realized how many they were. I do not mind though.
My old neighbor told me that the amount of fallen trees is worse than Hurricane Sandy.
Welcome to 3rd world country where slight wind and rain causes havoc. Funny how the map does not show a single place without power in Manhattan.
Maybe that is because they do not allow above ground power lines in Manhattan. From the Daily News September 2011.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/time-power-ed-bury-power-lines-queens-pols-article-1.953324
Heres an idea why doesnt the city remove trees that are close to power lines? Trees should only be allowed to a certain height .
We cant have these monster trees kill lives and destroy property. This was just a tropical storm damage is unbelievable. Anyone’s house went flying in the air ???
Power lines should be buried underground in all of NYC, not just in Manhattan. Glad the ones in the Gardens are also underground.
People should stay indoors during bad storms unless absolutely necessary. As for trees, they are essential.
I didnt imply to kill trees, I just saying to have trees to be a certain height. You must be indoors alot bc brain fog is obivous
“Remove trees” means chainsaws, thus killing the tree. Monster trees??Houses flying in the air?? I’m not the one with the brain fog.
Great idea! Kill our main source of fresh oxygen just so you can have power in a tropical storm that happens once in a blue moon.