Westchester Residents Troubleshoot Power Problems With Con Ed At County Center
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's not just Long Island.
Anger reached a boiling point for the powerless in Westchester County on Friday.
"Nobody can get information from Con Edison," Scarsdale resident Bernard Maekler told CBS 2's Lou Young.
That's the universal complaint from people in the dark -- even as repair crews get closer in their block-by-block battle with Superstorm Sandy's aftermath.
"It's like 45 degrees in the house," White Plains resident Nancy Darcy said.
Darcy wanted answers, so at CBS 2's suggestion she trudged down to the County Center in White Plains to speak with one of the Con Ed representatives the company put there Thursday.
It didn't start well.
"The process is now, people are coming in. They're getting a number from Con Ed. They're sitting and waiting. Right now we're up to number 47. The wait is about 35 to 40 minutes," a county police officer said.
That was a wait for information only. Darcy was additionally handicapped by the fact that she was with CBS and the federal bureaucrats who've taken over the storm information center wanted to keep the media out.
Darcy insisted CBS 2's Young go with her and he waited, and the feds finally folded.
Inside an engineer named Sergio asked her address and immediately underlined the obvious.
"I can tell you right now that you and your neighbors are out of power," the engineer said.
He told her it would be back by Sunday night at the latest. Darcy asked if they could please contact the field crew and get a better estimate.
"Then they really got into it and told me where the trucks were and when they were going to come," Darcy said, adding when asked when that would be, "In another hour! I'm very happy."
CBS 2's Young was on Ralph Avenue when Con Ed supervisors led two bucket trucks and workers from Mississippi onto the block to straighten out the power poles and begin restoring service. Darcy said she believes it took more effort to get information than it should have.
"I got detailed information and I thank you," she said.
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