Central Hudson Restores Power to More than 75% of Customers Impacted by Remnants of Hurricane Debby

9:45 a.m.

Central Hudson crews worked through the night in restoring power to nearly 20,000 customers after the remnants of Hurricane Debby brought heavy rain and powerful wind gusts to the area. As of 8 a.m., approximately 4,400 customers are without power with the most heavily impacted areas in Dutchess (approximately 1,250 customers impacted), Greene (approximately 1,600 customers impacted) and Ulster (approximately 900 customers impacted) counties.

"Our crews made significant progress throughout the night, but with more than 200 individual damage locations remaining, there is still a lot of work to be done," said Ryan Hawthorne, Vice President of Electric Engineering and Operations at Central Hudson. "We have added another 85 mutual assistance workers to bring our field force to well over 400 line and line clearance workers to help restore power as quickly as possible."

Central Hudson expects to have 95 percent of customers restored to customers in our service area by the following times:

• Albany County: Saturday, August 10, 4 p.m.
• Columbia County: 95% of customers restored
• Dutchess County: Saturday, August 10, 10 p.m.
• Greene County: Saturday, August 10, 10 p.m.
• Orange County: 95% of customers restored
• Putnam County: Saturday, August 10, 8 p.m.
• Ulster County: Saturday, August 10, 6 p.m.

"Favorable weather conditions should help us make strong progress on Saturday and we expect the vast majority of customers to be restored by the end of the day," Hawthorne added. "There may be a few customers in the most heavily impacted areas who will have their power restored early Sunday morning."

Central Hudson will distribute dry ice and bottled water to impacted customers starting at noon at the following locations:

• Fishkill: Home Depot (near Interstate 84), 450 U.S. Route 9, Fishkill
• Tannersville: Topps Friendly Markets, 6350 Main St., Tannersville

Customers are reminded that flooding may undermine natural gas lines and are urged to report gas odors they may detect by doing the following:

• STOP what they are doing. Do not light or use a match. Do not turn lights on or off or use a flashlight, cell phone or telephone. Do not turn on any other appliance or electric/electronic device and do not flush or run water.
• GO outside immediately.
• LET US KNOW by calling our gas odor hotline at 1-800-942-8274, or call 911.

Central Hudson prepares for storms by preparing crews, stocking supplies and materials, communicating with community leaders and following an approved storm plan. Central Hudson also takes proactive steps before storms strike to minimize service interruptions, including enhanced vegetation management and danger tree removals, and regular maintenance and upgrades to power lines serving communities.

Residents are advised to exercise an abundance of caution around downed power lines by staying at least 30 feet away and remember that downed lines can become entangled and hidden in fallen limbs. Residents should also remember to assume any downed power lines are live.

Customers are advised to keep safety in mind, particularly during power interruptions:

• Never use kitchen stoves or outdoor gas or charcoal grills indoors, as they pose a fire hazard and over time can give off carbon monoxide gas;
• Avoiding opening a refrigerator unnecessarily during outages, so that food lasts longer, an unopened refrigerator can keep food fresh for up to 4 hours;
• Beware of fallen trees and limbs, and use caution when traveling;
• Avoid the use of candles for illumination due to fire hazards;
• Follow the manufacturer's safety instructions on the use of emergency generators, and be sure to shut off the main breaker when in use and operate the units outdoors;
• Operate cars and motor vehicles outdoors only, and never inside the garage; and
• Avoid travel along roadways as hazardous conditions may cause driving accidents, including those involving utility poles which may cause power interruptions.

Customers can stay informed of storm and restoration conditions in the following ways:

• By text messaging: Customers should enroll in Central Hudson's Texting Program to use text messaging to report their power condition and to obtain repair status. To enroll, visit CentralHudson.com/Alerts or text REG to 236483;
• On the Web: Visit CentralHudson.com/Storms to report outages and obtain restoration updates;
• Via smart phones: Updated free Central Hudson mobile applications are available for Android and Apple devices by logging onto www.cenhud.com/mobileapp;
• Through social media: "Like" Central Hudson on Facebook (Facebook.com/CentralHudson) and "Follow" on X (formerly known as Twitter) (Twitter.com/CentralHudson); and
• By phone: Call the Central Hudson PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or 1-800-527-2714, and please use the automated system to report or monitor your power condition.
• If a member of your household needs electricity to operate life sustaining equipment, please contact customer service at (845) 452-2700.

More information on preparing for storms and emergencies and communicating with Central Hudson is available at www.CentralHudson.com; for information regarding electric and natural gas safety, visit www.CentralHudson.com/Safety.

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