Albertson residents still waiting for power to be restored following weekend storm
Albertson residents describe the challenges of being without power after weekend storms as PSEG crews continue restoration efforts across Long Island.
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While power has been restored to most customers impacted by this weekend's storms, some Albertson residents were still without electricity Monday, saying prolonged outages have become a recurring problem after severe weather.
Bobby Medina said he woke up to find his neighborhood on Birch Hill without power.
"I looked outside and everything was out. All the lights were out," Medina said.
A longtime Albertson resident, Medina said he's lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and has come to expect all-day outages whenever strong storms move through.
"Normally the power will be gone for the whole day, and you just adapt to that way of living," he said.
Just around the corner, Kanwal Aulakh said the outage forced her to leave home so she could attend online classes.
"I had to hop on at the nearest library. All my gadgets were out of power. There is no power backup," Aulakh said.
For Afnan Asif's family, the outage meant finding another solution. He said his father spent Monday shopping for a generator after the family endured a hot, uncomfortable night without electricity.
"Sleeping, it was terrible. It was mad hot outside, mad hot in my room. We had to leave the windows open, but rain was coming in because it was still raining. We have no lights inside. It's been pretty inconvenient," Asif said.
PSEG said its crews have responded to more than 400 downed trees and 320 fallen branches across Long Island, with eastern Suffolk County sustaining the most widespread storm damage.
As of Monday morning, the utility said power had been restored to more than 34,000 customers, about 91% of those who lost service after storms moved through Saturday night.
