WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. From White Plains CitizeNetReporters. January 18, 2006 UPDATED 2 P.M. E.S.T. : Jim Benerofe, speaking from his office in downtown White Plains described traffic "as a mess" in White Plains. He reported power out, trees down and wires down in a number of areas of the city: Central Avenue (City Limits was closed, no power), Battle Hill, Bryant Avenue, North Broadway and the southern end of Mamaroneck Avenue, saying he saw crews out tending to downed sparking wires. Motorists are advised to avoid unnecessary travel and allow extra time to reach destinations.
The Mayor's Office as of 2:30 reports that the Eastview School area had no power and the Greenridge Avenue area had no power, but did not have any other areas to report.
A White Plains motorist living in Rocky Dell reported that her school in Scarsdale had closed this morning because of a lack of power. She reported a tree down across Soundview, OId Mamaroneck Road had a blockage, and she had to zig-zag all the way.
Another resident in Soundview, on Midchester Avenue called WPCNR at 2 P.M. to say that though her power was on, the wire on Midchester Avenue was still spitting sparks and that the Department of Public Safety could not remove it until Con Edison turned off the power. She said she was told there was no indication on when that would be. This may be the problem with additional downed wires throughout the city.
Westchester County Department of Communications reports there were scattered power outages throughout the region. Hardest hit are: Tuckahoe, Ossining, Mt. Vernon, Greenburgh, Yorktown, Davenport area of New Rochelle, Battle Hill area in White Plains, Tarrytown, Warburton area in Yonkers.
New York State Electric and Gas reported 7,000 customer outages as of 11:30 a.m. Outages in all service areas including: North Salem, South Salem, Bedford, Pound Ridge, Lewisboro, Yorktown and Somers
The rash of downed trees and power disruptions began to roll across the city between 8:30 A.M. and 9 this morning.
A resident of Midchester Avenue in the Highlands reported at 8:45 A.M. electrical wires were downed along their street by this morning's 30 knots and higher winds. They reported that wires were on the road shooting off electrical sparks and their power is out "all over the area." The resident reported the White Plains Fire Department was on the scene. The resident observed there were "wires down, and sparking all over the place." According to that resident, the wire is still sparking, and a tree is smouldering.
Meanwhile, in Battle Hill, a resident notified WPCNR at 8:40 A.M., "There's a HUGE tree down on Battle Ave just up the hill from 119..... took out the power lines.... emergency crews decending on area now... just walked down from there before it fell and was getting pelted with debris from the wind.. hope nobody is hurt."
