Message from the Mayor: Storms Update 8-March-2018

Peter Swiderski
Fellow residents,
 
Yesterday’s storm impacted the village enough so that it represents a (giant) step back in terms of the number of people without power. We have crews on High so we expect power restored there shortly but “Quinn”, as yesterday’s charmer was designated, hit us hard enough.
 
Storm Update
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“Quinn” (versus “Riley” the previous week) left relatively few inches on the ground, but the slushy mess clung to the trees and brought a number down, as well as many branches and at least one transformer.  About 140 homes were thrust into darkness, and so we climb back to approximately 280 out.  The DPW crews were out last night and through positively heroic efforts, our men chain-sawed felled trees in the middle of the storm, and kept the roads open.
 
Quinn impacted the Country severely, knocking power out to another 20,000 people, bringing us back up to 30,000 in the dark. One version of these stats are available on the Con Ed site here https://apps.coned.com/stormcenter/external/default.html, but it tends to be off a bit.  Outages includes a remaining large cluster centered on High Street, and a smaller remaining one in the Buena Vista/Bellair/Summit Drive area; other clusters include lower Broadway, Hollywood, Flower, and Kent with a sprinkling of homes elsewhere.  New outages line Warburton, and include the Jordan neighborhood and a few on Pinecrest.  I have little to offer the resident in newly darkened homes. Con Ed claims they are prioritizing the homes out since Riley and so odds are poor for the newly dark on restoration by tomorrow night, despite what the website may claim. Conversely, few of Con Ed’s predictions are trustworthy, so it could be back in a few hours. I would bank on at least a few days’ disruption and begin to seek warmer accommodations.  If power comes sooner, you can celebrate.  I also recommend acute skepticism if a robo-call comes in telling you your home is fixed or will be in a designated number of hours.  Con Edison’s systems need… work and are not relaying consistently reliable information.
 
Con Ed has a number of trucks on High Street today including the equipment necessary to install new utility poles for the three knocked out. Con Ed’s predictions for this neighborhood have vacillated, but with the crew here (some up from North Carolina), we are reasonably certain many in that extended outage area will enjoy power by tonight or tomorrow.  The other outages – not certain. The arrival of a single truck can suddenly repower a number of streets as they move around, but the arrival of those trucks are entirely unpredictable and our liaison is only able to provide indicative information and nothing concrete. A two-hour Con Ed conference call with all Westchester municipalities was ugly – many towns far worse off than us don’t have a single crew and it is a mystery exactly where supposedly 600+ restoration professionals are.  We certainly have several of them, but a number of communities have had none to date. Post this crisis, there will be some long knives out for Con Ed.   
 
What you need to know:
 
* Some downed wires may still be “hot”. No need to find out the hard way. Do not approach them and make sure your dog is on a short leash. Live wires will kill instantly.
* Leave all your faucets dripping during the period that you are unheated so your pipes do not burst.  If you need shelter, the Andrus Home is generously offering a limited number of rooms. Please contact the Police Department if you need shelter (914-478-2344).
* The Community Center is still open as a warming/Wi-Fi/charging center until 7PM.
* Don’t call the Police Department for updates: they have no new information. Call only if it is a true emergency. I will put out a daily bulletin to keep you informed until the very last home is restored. It will be posted on the Community Center front door, Village Hall and Library front door during the duration of the emergency.
*  We assume the schools will be open tomorrow.
 
Coyote Update
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There have been no further coyote attacks. We are going to keep the parks closed for the next nine days and continue to trap in Hillside, Quarry and Uniontown.  Do not go in the woods until the Village reopens the parks or let your dogs or cats out or off the leash during the duration of this emergency. You put your pets at lethal risk if you do so and the Village cannot be held responsible.  No coyotes were snared this fifth day of the trapping effort.  Vigilance remains the order of the day for the next couple of weeks. Keep your eyes open and report anything amiss with our local wildlife (after you have gotten to safety).
 
More tomorrow.  I would say this too shall pass, but I am learning not to do so.
 
Sincerely,
 
Peter Swiderski
Mayor