National Grid: Many Will Not See Power Restored Until Thursday

National Grid says some of its customers in Franklin County will see their electric service restored by this afternoon and evening, but many more may have to wait until Thursday or even Friday to get their power back on.

National Grid spokesman Alberto Bianchetti said the Tuesday storms caused widespread damage to power poles, power lines and utility equipment in Franklin County.  He said crews are working to get power restored as fast as possible.

“Its possible some people will have their power restored this afternoon,” he said.  “But in terms of major restorations, we’ll be working well into tomorrow in those hard hit areas.  Some pockets may spill over into Friday."

By mid-day today, National Grid says it had restored power to 40,000 of the 68,000 customers around the state who lost power. 

Banchetti says they’ve mobilized extensive resources towards the storm restoration effort.   “Throughout our upstate service area we have more than 1100 utility personnel dedicated to this storm response – that includes utility workers, tree workers and support personnel.  We have crews coming from as far as Long Island, New England and Buffalo that have arrived or will be arriving to work on the restoration effort.”

While many other people wait for the power to be restored, service has been restored to most residents and businesses in Tupper Lake, which had been without power since Tuesday evening.

Tupper Lake Village Clerk Mary Casagrain said power started coming back on around noon.  As of 2 p.m., most people should have their service restored, she said.

The outages came after a series of powerful thunderstorms hit the area on Tuesday, toppling trees into homes, cars, power lines and roadways.

The severe weather is also being blamed for the death of a motorcyclist in Wilmington.

State Police in Wilmington say 51 year-old Gordon Hall Jr. of New Columbia, Pennsylvania was killed after his 2006 Harley Davidson hit a tree that was blocking the roadway.   The accident happened around 6:18 p.m. on the Springfield Road. Hall was transported to Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid where he was pronounced dead. The string of severe thunderstorms hit the region in two separate waves – the first came through in the early afternoon while the second hit during the evening hours.         Scott Harwood is deputy 911 coordinator for Franklin County.  “The majority of the early damage was in
	This Tree Nearly Hit the WNBZ Studios in Saranac Lake
northern Franklin County, on the Franklin County-St. Lawrence line – the towns of Moira, Brushton, Bangor and Bombay.  The second wave of storms came through and primarily affected the Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake area.  The damage is still being assessed in the southern end of the county.”

Eric Evenson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington, said the storm was responsible for widespread wind damage across much of the North Country.

“We received a report of golf-ball sized hail in Tupper Lake,” he said.  “Also winds 70 to 80 miles per hour.  Lots of trees and power lines down in the Saranac Lake and Jay areas.  We really had two rounds of severe thunderstorms move across Northern New York.”

Saranac Lake and surrounding towns were hit hard by the second wave of storms.  First Assistant Fire Chief Dave Bickford said they answered more than three dozen calls.  “Mostly trees crossing roadways, trees taking down power lines and service lines to peoples homes, trees on homes, trees on cars with people in them, people trapped on roadways in between downed trees.  Just extensive damage all over the place.”

Several trees and a 100-foot radio tower crashed into a house on Neil Street, but no injuries were reported. 

Bickford said the department took one injured person to the hospital after a tree fell on a vehicle on the Bloomingdale Road.  Trees and utility lines fell on another car on Ampersand Avenue, trapping passengers inside until firefighters determined the downed wires were telephone lines.

Other damage in the Saranac Lake area included numerous downed trees and power lines in the Moody Pond area, storm drains and roadways overflowing with sediment and a disabled traffic light at the intersection of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue. 

In Lake Placid and Tupper Lake, firefighters and municipal electric crews responded to a handful of reports of downed trees and power lines. 

Fire officials said high winds toppled hundreds of trees in the Moose Pond area, on Beaver Pond Road, Forest Home Road, MacKenzie Pond Road and State Route 30 near the fish hatchery in Lake Clear.  Another section of State Route 30 had to be closed after a tree hit a power substation at Gilpin Bay.

Some of the roads were still closed today until trees could be cleared and utility crews could repair the downed power lines. 

As of mid-afternoon New York State Electric and Gas said it still had customers without power in Jay, Keene Valley, Elizabethtown, Westport, Ausable Forks and a number of other communities in Essex, Franklin and Clinton Counties.

The National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch on Tuesday, saying there were conditions that could produce an isolated tornado. 

At least one local resident believes she saw something like a tornado – Laurel Tyler of Macomb Street in Saranac Lake says she saw a funnel cloud. (news4) “I saw the sky turn like a golden-green color,” she said.  “I’ve seen a few tornadoes in my life.  I’ve seen the sky turn a mint color like that.  It was really exciting.  I saw this big funnel cloud go right over our building.”

Eric Evenson of the National Weather Service said they didn’t receive any reports of tornadoes or tornado-like activity.  “We would need to see pictures or video if someone saw something,” he said. 

-Chris Knight, 6-11-08, updated 2:30 p.m.

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