National Grid repairs downed powerlines in Cleveland
/ photo: Craig McDowell
ROME -- Several thousand utility customers were without power overnight after severe thunderstorms rolled across upstate New York, knocking out electricity service to thousands of homes and businesses.
The first outages were reported Monday evening as a line of storms began pummeling Central New York with rain, golf-ball sized hail and high winds. The heavy rain caused streets and underpasses to flood in the city of Rome. Trees and wires were downed on the north shore of Oneida Lake along Route 49, near the Village of Cleveland.
National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella says approximately 12,000 outages were reported across Central New York at the height of the storms Monday night. He says about 3,000 customers are still without power as of 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, mostly in suburban and rural Oneida County.
The storms knocked down power lines across the Thruway at Herkimer, closing Interstate 90 in both directions for about 30 minutes early Tuesday.
