By Ashley Tarr [2]
Monday looked like just another day in Southeast.
Nearly every establishment — from Kelly’s Corner [3] to Mt. Maya Car Wash [4] to Chase [5] to Town Hall [6] — was open for business. But for the hundreds of residents [7] whose New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) [8] power was out, the day was full of challenges.
At one point on Monday, the number of affected Southeast residents teetered around 2,000. By the early hours of Tuesday, that number was down to 1,700. Morgan Drive, Gage Drive, Foggintown Road, Danbury Road, Enoch Crosby Drive and Cooledge Drive saw the largest chunks of outages — each with numbers in the dozens.
In some cases, residents’ frustrations with the lack of power were exacerbated by flooded basements. Tony Lopes, a resident of Fairview Road in Southeast, has been busy pumping two of his neighbors’ basements since the storm hit — and keeping a generator running nonstop to ensure his own stays dry.
“36 hours without power,” he said. “You call [NYSEG], they don’t even pick up.”
Lopes plans to keep the generator fueled up at all times, even if that means waking up in the middle of the night for a refill. The machine gives him access to hot water, a running fridge and more.
The frustration was widespread. Southeast Deputy Town Clerk Michele Stancati told Patch around 3 p.m. that nearly a dozen residents called or stopped by the office Monday to complain about NYSEG…
Other members wrote that an automated telephone call from Supervisor Michael Rights Monday evening notified them that dry ice, along with water, was available at Town Hall [6]. State Sen. Greg Ball (R, C – Patterson) also arranged to have 250 bags of the substance distributed in Mahopac that night, according to a press release from his office. (READ MORE [9])
