Mayor: Rye, Con Edison Continue to Clear Roads

Editor's Note: The following message was provided by Rye Mayor Douglas French:

Con Edison, working with the City and its Department of Public Works, has continued to make progress in clearing closed roads and completing the public safety portion of the restoration effort. We expect crews to continue working until at least 11:00 P.M. tonight. At the end of the storm 37 roads were blocked; all have been reopened except for five.

Con Edison reports that 500 workers from outside utilities have been deployed throughout Westchester from the staging area at Playland. An additional 500 are expected to arrive during the weekend.

On Saturday, the City expects to have two New York State crews, one private contractor, two City of Rye crews, and an additional complement of Con Ed crews working to remove trees and debris.

The priority for restoration remains on opening schools. City and School Board officials are scheduled for a conference call on Saturday morning to update school restoration.

Halloween in the City of Rye remains postponed until further notice.
The emergency shelter at Rye Country Day School has been closed. The City has opened a Warming Center at the Administration Building at Rye Golf Club. Coffee and tea will be available, as well as power strips for the charging of portable devices. It will be open daily from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.

Many residents have been concerned about gasoline shortages. The Governor has announced that the Port of New York has been opened and delays in delivery should be corrected shortly. The situation should normalize within the next few days.

Con Ed has established November 9th as the estimated time for system-wide restoration. As it becomes apparent that specific areas will restored earlier, revised estimates will be posted on the company’s website. Residents should continue to check www.coned.com for updated information, and to report individual outages to that website of by telephone at 1-800-75-CONED.
Although power has been out for several days, residents should still assume that any downed wire may be live. In fact, 34 locations have been determined to merit the assignment of site safety personnel.

The Fire Department and Building Department have continued inspection of generators. The inspections have located 24 generators in sheds, 20 located too close to homes, and 4 left running unattended while residents were not home. All of these installations posed potentially lethal hazards. Please use extreme care when operating portable generators.

Westchester County has received a Federal Disaster Declaration, making the region eligible for federal aid. Individuals and government entities may be eligible for help. Individuals affected by Hurricane Sandy should call 1-800-621-3362 to register for assistance. Information regarding assistance to businesses will be available shortly.

Because this is expected to be a long restoration, residents are encouraged to check on their neighbors, especially the elderly and those in need, to ensure their safety. The City has been distributing information through Nixle, Reverse 911, the City website, and various listservs. However, because many residents are without telephone, media, or Internet service, please share these updates with other members of the community who may not be receiving them.

- Mayor Douglas French