Electricity fully restored in Orleans County

Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County is now free from the grip of the ice storm that took out power to half of the county at one point. This photo on Sunday shows the First Presbyterian Church of Albion in the background.

National Grid has restored power to every customer – 18,000-plus – in Orleans County, about two days after an ice storm snapped branches, taking down electrical wires all over the county.

The company is reporting that there are no customers without power in Orleans. At 2 p.m. on Sunday about half of the county lacked power, or 8,590 of National Grid’s 18,174 customers in Orleans.

The power company had 96 crews at its peak in Orleans, working to reattach wires and make other power restorations.

The ice storm knocked power out for about 70,000 customers in western, central and northern New York. As of 7:16 p.m., there were 1,354 customers without power and they are nearly all in the North Country with 840 in Lewis County and 480 in St. Lawrence County. National Grid expects everyone to be back on line by 11:30 p.m.

National Grid has fewer than 100 customers without power, about two days after an ice storm snapped big branches and felled numerous trees around Orleans County.

On Sunday afternoon there were 8,590 National Grid customers without power in Orleans. That represented 47.3 percent of National Grid’s customer base in the county.

As of 11:41 p.m. today, there were 92 customers without electricity. The company is working to have them restored today. Of those 92, 76 are in Shelby, with five or six customers without power in Yates, Albion and Clarendon.

Two counties in northern New York still have a lot of people without power. In Jefferson County, 3,846 customers don’t have electricity. National Grid reports it expects them to be back on line by 11:30 p.m. today. St. Lawrence County has 1,185 customers without power.

National Grid made significant progress restoring power in Orleans County today. As of 10:42 p.m., all but 356 customers were back on line.

The power company started the day with 3,275 customers without power. On Sunday there were more than 8,000 with no electricity, or about half of the county.

National Grid had 96 crews in the county today. The company is working to have power fully restored in Orleans by noon tomorrow, the day before Christmas.

Company reports 1,453 still without power in Orleans

Photos by Tom Rivers – A tree crushed this 1995 Cadillac Seville, owned by Shaun Cobb of Albion. The tree damaged two other cars when it fell on Brown Street near the Caroline Street intersection. Cobb has been working to remove the tree by himself.

It shouldn’t be too much longer. That was the message from Paul Wagner, Orleans County emergency management director.

He knows residents want their electricity back on. National Grid has reduced the number of customers without power from 3,275 this morning to 1,453 as of 5:38 p.m. Wagner expects many more will be back on-line before 10 p.m. when National Grid crews will call it a day.

The crews will be back to work in the morning and expect to have power restored to residents by noon.

“We’re nearing the end of the power outage routine in Orleans County,” Wagner told the County Legislature this afternoon.

National Grid has 96 crews working to restore power and reattach lines to houses, Wagner said.

He also noted the six fire companies from Wyoming County that volunteered to help with basement pumping and be on standby for other fire calls. They arrived at about 4 p.m. on Sunday and stayed past noon today, easing some of the burden for local firefighters.

The Wyoming departments include North Java, Harris Corners, Perry, North Java, Warsaw and Arcade. A crew from Chili in Monroe County also was on scene in eastern Orleans.

Wagner said he was grateful the storm did not cause any injuries or fatalities.

Orleans County was alive with the sound of chain saws today while workers and residents cut up some of the fallen branches and trees. Bob Dexter works on a limb behind his stepdaughters’ house on East Park Street.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Here is another photo from the ice storm on Sunday, showing the Orleans County Courthouse in the background.

More than 3,000 National Grid customers remain without electricity this morning, and the power company advised the lights may not be back on until noon on Christmas Eve.

The ice storm that broke branches and felled trees, resulting in downed power lines. National Grid has made progress since yesterday when 8,590 of 18,174 customers in Orleans County were without electricity.

There are still 3,152 without power, as of 6:43 a.m. today. That represents 17.3 percent of the company’s customer base in Orleans.

It could be worse. In St. Lawrence County in northern New York, 28.0 percent of National Grid customers, 15,442 out of 55,065, are without electricity.

The company made big strides in Genesee County yesterday. As of this morning, only 82 customers were without electricity just south of Orleans.