Heavy rain and wind are expected Thursday night into Friday morning with wind gusts up to 60 MPH after midnight, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
PSEG Long Island said the rain and wind could cause tree limbs to break and pull down wires, causing outages. Given the potential intensity of the storm and lack of available crews from other utilities to help due to the holiday, some outages may last into the weekend.
“As we closely monitor this latest weather event, our crews are prepared and ready to respond safely and as quickly as possible to restore power so customers can celebrate the holidays,” said John O’Connell, vice president of Transmission & Distribution at PSEG Long Island. “We are asking our employees to forego holiday vacation to fulfill our commitment to bring customers safe and reliable power, regardless of extreme weather conditions.”
“Due to the regional impact of the storm and the holiday, fewer crews from other areas are available to help our restoration efforts,” he added. “We are continuing our efforts to obtain additional resources. We will take all available actions to mitigate outage durations and restore power safely and as quickly as possible.”