Mayor: Electric May Take Until Friday, Schools Closed

[Editor's note: The following is a letter from Mayor Carolyn Stevens, reprinted as written in an e-mail sent today at 3:05 p.m.  I added the headings and bold sections were put in for ease of reader's use. Other notes:

• Election day voting is still on at Village Hall but afterparty at Woman's Club is most likely cancelled;
  
• Scarsdale schools are closed tomorrow, Tues. March 16;
  
• The Board of Education budget hearing has been moved to tomorrow night.]
  

At a municipal conference call today with Con Ed we were advised that there are still 67,000 customers in Westchester without power. 

There has been little restoration of power in the County. Most of the effort has been to de-energize lines so that trees that are blocking roads can be removed. 

Restoration of power can't really begin until Con Ed can get to the lines. As of this morning Con Ed had two crews in Scarsdale working on de-energizing lines so that our Village workers could remove trees. 

The village has also retained the services of an outside tree removal company to aid in the work. Con Ed is now saying that they expect to begin to restore power in Scarsdale starting later today but that many may not be restored until Thursday or Friday.

Con Ed is bring crews in from other parts of the country and they expect to have 160 crews working in the county with 5 assigned to Scarsdale. We hope to see these other crews later today.
 
Con Ed stated some folks with power may experience a loss of power as they begin to work on restoring power to everyone. These outages should be temporary but could last 2 or 3 hours.

Dry ice is available to anyone who wants it at three locations:

• New Rochelle City Hall – 515 North Street, New Rochelle
• Saxon Woods Park –  Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains
  (Hutchinson River Pkwy. to Exit 23S Mamaroneck Ave./Mamaroneck. Head east on Mamaroneck Ave.  1/4 mile to entrance.)
• Empire City – 810 Central Park Ave,  Yonkers
• Distribution hours are 12:00 noon to 8:00 PM.

In the Village 70% are still without power. 

Village Hall, at 1001 Post Rd., is open, but is also without power.

Our updated tally of trees blocking roads: At one point we had 180 trees.

We have between 40 and 50 homes that have been damaged by trees. 

We have had our Public Works crews working almost non-stop to try to clear trees where power lines are not an issue and now they are working with Con Ed crews to clear trees once Con Ed turns off the power.

As of noon today there was only one East-West corridor open: Mamaroneck Rd. to Fenimore Rd.

Post Rd. was open from Boulevard to White Plains.

Heathcote, Drake, and Weaver all had blockages. 

Almost all major streets have been compromised at some point by fallen trees with wires.

For those without power please be careful when using candles – we have already had house fire.

For those who have had some tree damage please make sure that your chimneys have not been damaged, and make sure your carbon monoxide alarms are working.
 
Those with damage to their homes, we have Building Department personnel available to help. 

We have also instituted an emergency procedure for obtaining Building Permits.
 
Those who have power, think of taking in a neighbor or friend without power, or at least inviting them over as a respite from the cold. 

Please check on any of your neighbors who are seniors – especially those who live alone. 

If you think that someone needs help call the police at 722-1200.

 
Carolyn Stevens

Mayor