X

National Grid prepares for high winds, heavy rain, Lisbon joins Ogdensburg, Massena, Canton in declaring state of emergency

Posted 10/29/12

As National Grid prepares for potential high winds, torrential rains and flooding, the Town of Lisbon has joined tOgdensburg, Canton and Massena in declaring a state of emergency, as reports of …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

National Grid prepares for high winds, heavy rain, Lisbon joins Ogdensburg, Massena, Canton in declaring state of emergency

Posted

As National Grid prepares for potential high winds, torrential rains and flooding, the Town of Lisbon has joined tOgdensburg, Canton and Massena in declaring a state of emergency, as reports of Hurricane Sandy worry the North Country.

The U.S. Coast Guard, meanwhile, is urging any boaters out on the St. Lawrence River and other waters to stay informed, secure their vessels, remove things that could blow around, leave the boat, and find shelter.

As the fury of the hurricane continues moving toward northern New York, weather forecasters are suggesting Sandy could be a storm of unprecedented magnitude.

Public schools in the North Country began canceling classes last night. They will all be closed as of this afternoon.

Other cancellations continue to be made, including classes at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton after 4 p.m. today.

“We urge customers to take precautions and prepare for the worst case scenario,” said Kenneth Daly, National Grid President for New York.

“We have been tracking Sandy very closely over the past several days, and preparedness plans have been deployed to make sure our crews are ready to respond as quickly and safely as possible,” Daly said.

He could not predict what the effects will amount to, beyond a lot of work expected for crews handling downed lines.

“Once the storm passes and we see the extent of the damage it has caused, we’ll be able to better predict how long it may take to restore any electricity and natural gas service interruptions,” he said.

The company said it has taken several steps to prepare for the possibility of service interruptions. These include:

• Contacting contractors with whom they regularly work for storm support

• Calling in extra crews; pre-staging crews and materials to areas anticipated to be most severely impacted

• Continuous monitoring of the storm and positioning resources to best respond to storm outages

• Identifying low-lying, flood-prone areas and natural gas facilities for monitoring and potential isolation

• Ensuring that key areas such as operations and customer call centers are appropriately staffed

• Providing public updates when necessary and staying in contact with local and state emergency and public safety officials.

The company is in contact with emergency management officials across upstate New York to discuss storm preparation and service restoration plans. Municipal officials have been contacted throughout the region to keep them updated on preparations and to provide contact and safety information that can be passed along to constituents in the event of severe damage from the winds.