WPCNR THE POWER NEWS September 5, 2006: WPCNR awaits the Con Edison Media Relations morning report on White Plains homes still without power. City Hall where no one was available to speak to the public or the press over the weekend reports they are “swamped” with calls from White Plains residents this morning on the pace of power restoration. Press calls were being held as of 9:30 A.M..
A reader also writes on the ongoing power situation in the Soundview area. Also in Soundview a live wire, guarded by a Con Edison worker in a “Community Assessment” van (who was observed sleeping in his vechicle Sunday afternoon), has electrocuted a wild animal. The same could happen to any child, pet or jogger who fails to see an unreported downed wire and blunders into it. Residents should take care because, WPCNR warns that there may be downed wires undiscovered at this time due to residents being away on holiday. Gedney Farms was also reported still without power Sunday evening. If you find yourself without power, you must report it to Con Edison to be assured you will be reconnected. Call 800-75CONED.
A resident files this report on the blackout in Soundview:
Hi,
The entire neighborhood south of Miles, between Old Mamaroneck Rd and Soundview Ave has been without power since Saturday at 3PM. Despite driving around Soundview/Highlands numerous times I counted ONE Con Ed crew–fixing a power line on Sunday morning near Bryant Ave. Not a single crew in sight since then. In fact, a drive through White Plains yesterday afternoon around 4 yielded the same result (this includes Gedney where I saw 2 separate lines down). I saw numerous Verizon crews, but not one Con Ed crew. There are 2 power lines down nearby my house–one on Miles near Old Mamaroneck, one on Hartsdale near Soundview.
Thus far, Con Ed has parked a guy in a van at each site. I’ve spoken to each, and they have zero information regarding when repairs will happen. It seems impossible to believe they can’t get two wires spliced back together in less than 4 days–there’s no trees to clear, no broken poles, just 2 wires that need to be spliced. Con Ed’s response is completely unacceptable, and I strongly question their propaganda about how hard they’re working to restore power.
Another resident wrote WPCNR as of this morning about the ambivalence of unmarked downed wires:
As of 8:45 this am a wire is still draped across the road at about 100
Grandview. The part that bothers me is that there’s no ribbon. The
advice from everyone is always to not touch ANY downed wires and then
they look at a wire and if they know it’s just a phone wire, they drive
away. Someone should be able to ribbon it so you don’t drive into it
or cone it or something. By leaving it there for days, people assume it
must be a non dangerous wire and not be wary of it.
