New Jersey

Nor'easter Cleanup Shutters Schools, Prompts States of Emergency in NY, NJ

Power outages hit entire neighborhoods as infrastructure struggled to recover

What to Know

  • More than 146,000 customers were without power across the tri-state after a powerful nor'easter downed power lines
  • Communities from the Jersey Shore to the Hudson Valley were cleaning up toppled trees or digging out from more than a foot of snow
  • Temperatures stay cooler, in the mid-40s, into the early part of next week

Over 100,000 customers are still without power in the tri-state 48 hours after a nor'easter punished residents from the Jersey Shore up to Westchester. 

Utilities are scrambling to pick up the pieces from Friday's storm, which has left power lines tangled in branches and trees mangled in streets. The destructive storm -- which Con Edison is already calling the fifth most damaging in its service area -- has shuttered some schools and left some residents unsure about when they can return home. Check latest school closings here.

In New Jersey, more than 75,000 utility customers are still without power. And Con Edison in New York says 132,000 customers lost power at the height of the storm -- mostly in Westchester -- though 90,000 have been restored. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared states of emergency in Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Westchester counties Sunday night, and said 100 National Guard members would be deployed Monday to the four counties in addition to the 100 members who were sent there on Saturday. He said three-quarters of the New Yorkers without power reside in those counties.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck situation," Cuomo said.

Click here to see a list of shelters, warming centers and charging centers in Westchester County.

The hardest hit area in New York was Westchester County, where more than 40,000 homes still lacked power Monday morning. Con Ed said high winds and heavy snow damaged the overhead electrical-delivery system and it could be days before power was restored to everyone. 

"We expect that 90 percent of the customers should be back by Tuesday night. There might be a few extra Wednesday or so, individual homes," Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin said.

About 1,600 people in NYC, mainly Queens and the Bronx, remained without power, Con Ed reports. 

NYSEG also reported more than 20,000 customers still without power in Westchester on Monday morning, and Central Hudson said 12,495 were in the dark.

At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas said he was skeptical of the timeline for restoration.

"The public has a right to know exactly where things stand, and I am asking for updates as regularly as possible to make sure that nothing shifts," Thomas said. 

It's not just homes that are without electricity. Dozens of traffic lights are out. County leaders say they're coming up with plans to direct traffic Monday morning. 

Con Edison was distributing dry ice in Yorktown Heights and New Rochelle, two of the hardest-hit areas of Westchester, as well as the Bronx. NYSEG was also handing out dry ice in Pound Ridge and Yorktown.

Most of the affected customers without power in New Jersey are in the northern part of the state, which was hardest hit by the storm that coated the region with a wintry mix. Its powerful winds knocked down numerous trees and also caused flooding and dangerous travel conditions in many areas.

Dozens of schools throughout the state were either closed or holding delayed openings Monday due to power issues.

Friday’s storm killed at least one person in New York, an 11-year-old boy in Putnam County who died when high winds caused a tree to crash down onto his home.

The nor'easter was also blamed on the death of a 41-year-old man in Andover Township, New Jersey, who police say came in contact with a downed power line and was electrocuted Friday evening.

Seven other people from Virginia to Rhode Island also died because of the storm, officials said. 

The region's transit continued to recover Sunday, with Amtrak saying it would have service restored on the Northeast Corridor for Monday. Service on the busy corridor was suspended Friday, along with much of the tri-state's commuter rail lines, which have mostly recovered since the storm.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us