Strong winds bring outage threat to the East End

Strong winds overnight on the East End brought the threat of power outages

News 12 Staff

Oct 27, 2021, 1:19 AM

Updated 1,144 days ago

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Strong winds overnight on the East End brought the threat of power outages.
News 12's Kevin Vesey was in South Jamesport where residents were preparing.
Those in the area say they have flashlights, extra batteries and know how to protect themselves.
South Jamesport resident Bob Walsh has lived in the area for over 60 years. He said he would be watching his trees and power lines closely, hoping the lights stay on.
"We get this every fall so we're kind of used to it," Walsh said. "We've prepared ourselves. We've been through this before."
Larry Torres, with Public Service Enterprise Group Long Island, said more than 400 workers would be on duty overnight with another 200 on standby.
"We had a saturation of rain and soil," Torres say. "Combine that with gusty winds in the 60, 70 mph range. We are concerned about large limbs and trees coming over and impacting our electric system."
Walsh said PSEG Long Island has performed well so far this year and hoped for quick responses Tuesday night.
"I hope it's going to be good again," he said. "They said they were prepared."
Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said she was in close contact with the utility and had her own crews ready to go.
"Everyone's on standby," Aguiar says. "Of course, myself, here I am, so is the police chief, police officers, we have our Buildings Department, we have our sanitation."
Anyone who sees downed power lines should keep their distance and report it immediately.
People can report an outage to PSEG LI by texting "OUT" to 773454.