On Saturday and Sunday, strong winds knocked down trees, cutting off power to thousands of Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. customers in Monroe, Livingston, and Wayne counties in Ontario.
As of 6 am on Monday, RG&E reported that nearly 7,800 customers still had power outages (approximately 2% of customers in the Rochester area), and nearly half of the outages occurred in Greek towns.
According to the company, Saturday’s storm caused approximately 600 electrical wires to collapse and 118 telephone poles to be damaged.
The Chief Executive of Monroe County, Adam Bello, issued the following statement on Monday:
Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) reported that as of 9:00 am on December 13, approximately 7,500 customers in its Monroe County still had power outages. Most of the power outages are still in Greece. RG&E estimates that 95% of its customers will restore power before midnight.
RG&E stated that its staff has completed the damage assessment and will work hard to install the damaged poles.
The State Grid reported that about 2,125 customers are still out of power. State Grid estimates that all customers whose power outages will restore power before midnight. The company will distribute dry ice to customers at the Batavia City Fire Department located at 18 Evans Street, 14020 from noon to 4 pm today.
There is a dry ice and water bottle distribution point in Gatestown, which is open today from noon to 5:00 pm at Gates Town Hall at 1605 Buffalo Rd., 14624.
The Monroe County Department of Transportation is still completing its damage assessment and identifying damaged trees that may be at risk of collapse
The Central School District of Greece announced that two schools-Olympia High School in Greece at 1139 Maiden Lane and Autumn Lane Elementary School in 2089 Maiden Lane-have power outages and will remain closed on Monday. Students and staff of these two schools should not report to the school.
According to district officials, all other Greek schools have electricity and will be open as usual on Monday.
In a press release issued on Sunday evening, Avangrid, the parent company of RG&E, announced that they hope to restore 95% of the customers affected by the Saturday wind before 11:30 on Monday night.
The rest of the customers whose power outages will be restored on Tuesday. According to the company, customers should check their account-specific estimated recovery time (ETR) to understand when to recover.
"Currently, out of a total of 54,366 affected customers, approximately 12,403 customers still have power outages in the company's central departments (including Monroe County)," the press release said.
Rochester Mayor James Smith announced that the David Gunter R Center will be open overnight as a heating center for anyone who needs to withstand cold weather. In a statement released on Sunday night, the mayor said:
Food will also be provided to those who need it. In addition, Rochester Transit Service will provide a direct route from its Transit Center on St. Paul St. to Gantt Center. Residents who need to reach the Gantt R Center should take the normal RTS route to the transit center, and then transfer to the bus to the Gantt Center. RTS staff will be able to assist residents in doing so.
In addition, Jackson R-Center and Genesee Valley Sports Complex will open tomorrow (Monday, December 13) at 8:30 and 8:00, respectively, to provide services to those looking for shelters. Finally, all other City R-Centers and libraries will be open tomorrow to help those in need.
The county recommends that residents without electricity on Sundays can recharge their devices at the following locations:
In the city, residents can also use the following services:
Monroe County also lifted unnecessary travel bans early Sunday afternoon.
Treat any non-working traffic light as a four-way stop.
RG&E issued the following statement on Sunday, outlining its plan to restore power after Saturday’s storm.
After strong winds disrupted service to thousands of customers yesterday, Rochester Gas and Electric Company (RG&E) has released a daily work recovery plan that will be completed on Sunday. In addition to the day’s operational activities, the plan also includes an overview of the company’s crew. RG&E is adding additional on-site resources to assist in today's recovery efforts. Currently, approximately 20,838 customers in the company's Central (20,085) and Sodus (675) divisions have lost power, including Monroe, Wayne, and Cayuga counties.
Strong winds, gusts reaching 70 miles per hour, there was rain throughout the state yesterday. Due to bad weather, the company's power system was damaged, causing thousands of blackouts. RG&E’s damage assessor reported about 291 wires collapsed and 60 damaged utility poles. The company urges customers to stay away from any collapsed wires or fallen trees where the wires are entangled, and report to RG&E by calling 1.800.743.1701 or calling 911.
Details of the Sunday work plan include:
For more information, including storm preparation tips, storm safety information, generator safety information, recovery priorities, and emergency resources, please visit the Outage Center on RGE.com.
After a storm in March 2017 caused more than 100,000 Monroe County residents to lose power, the county public health commissioner, Dr. Michael Mendoza, warned people to watch out for the contents of the refrigerator.
Perishable items placed at temperatures above 40 degrees begin to become unsafe after only two hours, especially meat, poultry, eggs and leftovers.
Frequent opening and closing of refrigerator and freezer doors can cause food to spoil faster.
In addition, people should not use cooking grills or fuel generators indoors because they emit deadly carbon monoxide.
See more about this developing story.