Rising rivers forced more evacuations in northern New Jersey and hundreds of thousands of tri-state area residents remain without electricity Wednesday as the aftermath of Irene wore into Day 5.
New York City and tri-state mass transit had mostly returned to normal by Tuesday, though some branches remain suspended due to damage from Irene.[Check the latest transit updates here.]
Meanwhile, the local death toll related to Irene continued to rise. It included the death announced Tuesday of an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor from Brooklyn.
NEW YORK CITY
- Con Edison said less than 2,000 customers across the five boroughs were without power by Wednesday morning. Check Con Edison's storm center outage map for the latest.
- The MTA said it will not be able to refund MetroCards for the time the subway and bus system was shut down.
- The city said that 73 percent of the 2,000 trees downed during the storm had been cleared from roads. All arterial roadways are cleared; the majority of primary roadways are cleared.
- Call volume at 311 continued to be up. More than 102,300 calls came in to the call center on Tuesday. A normal Tuesday is about 55,000 calls.
- Intense rainfall from Irene has compromised soil beneath a section of the shoulder adjacent to the right lane of the Queens-bound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at Grace Court near the Atlantic Avenue entrance, requiring overnight repairs. Crews will work between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., closing one or two of the BQE's Queens lanes. To help alleviate the impact of repair work, Furman Street between Atlantic Avenue and Old Fulton Street will be converted starting Wednesday afternoon from one-way southbound to two-way operation.
- Staten Island, one of the worst hit areas by Irene, was to be toured by state Financial Service Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, along with local officials Tuesday. Lawsky and other State Insurance Department officials will be assisting residents with insurance claims, answering questions and addressing concerns.
NEW JERSEY
- Paterson and Wallington continued to be evacuated Wednesday because of flooding. The area of Locust and Paterson streets were particularly troubled by floodwater.
- About 154,000 New Jersey customers were without power early Wednesday. Jersey Central Power & Light says it has restored power to about 550,000 customers and the remaining 119,000 should have it back by the weekend. PSE&G reported 33,000 without power and estimated restoration by Sunday. Atlantic City Electric has about 1,800 outages.
- In Middlesex County there was a boil water advisory for the city of South Amboy. There was a loss of water service in the city because of a 16-inch water main break.
- Residents may bring items (no construction material) directly to the municipal garage on Willow Avenue between Newark Street and Observer Highway. Dumpsters will be available there until 8 p.m. every night until Friday, Sept. 2.
LONG ISLAND
- On Long Island, 190,000 Long Island Power Authority customers were still without power Wednesday. Some may not get power back until Friday or as late as next week. Hundreds of Long Island homeowners were bailing out basements and flooded ground floors.
- Nassau County reported numerous downed trees and power lines, creating possible dangerous situations. LIPA said they are dealing with the most number of power outages since Hurricane Gloria hit in 1985.
CONNECTICUT
- As of Wednesday, about 32,500 residents in our area were without power. Throughout the state, that number is much higher: 307,806 residences were reported without power
- Gov. Dannel Malloy said 2,000 telephone poles were damaged along with hundreds of cell phone towers.
- Connecticut's hurricane emergency information is here.
WESTCHESTER
- More than 12,000 customers were without power Wednesday evening.
- Con Edison expects most of its customers to have power back by Thursday.
- Westchester health officials have lifted an advisory that warned residents to avoid contact with the Hudson River because of sewage spill due to Tropical Storm Irene. The sewage spill has stopped.
HUDSON VALLEY/UPSTATE NY
- Orange and Rockland Utilities said 16,985 customers were still without power Wednesday. Most will have power restored by midnight Friday, and the remainder over the weekend.
- Central Hudson reported 34,764 with
- New York state Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens is investigating a petroleum spill in upstate New York blamed on Tropical Storm Irene at an oil storage terminal. The cause of the spill and loss of any petroleum was being determined.
- Rockland County suffered damaged roads and bridges, and flooded neighborhoods from Tropical Storm Irene. National Guard units were deployed to western Ramapo.
- Orange County also suffered damage, and Metro-North said it was indefinitely suspending its Port Jervis line there because of damage on the tracks and to its equipment.
- The entire New York Thruway is now open in both directions.
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