Rep. Ocasio-Cortez urges Con Ed to better prepare for storms

About 32,000 houses across the city remain in the dark following Tropical Storm Isaias.

News 12 Staff

Aug 8, 2020, 2:25 PM

Updated 1,525 days ago

Share:

About 32,000 houses across the city remain in the dark following Tropical Storm Isaias.
Con Edison says it has crews working around the clock and added an additional 1,200 contractors to help with the storm's impact.
The utility company says it's taking a long time to restore power because it needs to rebuild entire electric delivery systems in some neighborhoods.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling on management at Con Edison to improve their preparedness for events like Isaias.

She says it is unacceptable to leave the elderly without air conditioning and those with medical needs without power.

Ocasio-Cortez also is concerned about those who didn't have internet access and were unable to work from home.

Riverdale resident David Joslin says he isn't surprised it has taken this long for power to be restored.

"I've been going out into the city and charging my phone on the bus," Joslin says.

Businesses in the community are also being affected by the outages.

Anna Tagliari, owner of Ultima Unisex Hairstyle, says she is worried about her store due to it being closed because of the coronavirus and canceled appointments because of the power outages.

"I'm worried to make sure we are able to stay open and we have to cut 50% of our business," Tagliari says. "So it's a little bit difficult but we pray every day."

Con Edison is reminding people to stay away from downed wires and report them to the electric company and to local police departments.

The utility company is telling its customers that the power will be back on by Sunday.
undefined