Clark Mills, N.Y. — Thousands of Central New York residents could be without electric power as extreme heat reaches the region this week, National Grid said Sunday.
The utility company said power is projected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to the nearly 31,000 affected customers still without power in Herkimer, Madison and Oneida counties. Outages in more remote areas could last until Wednesday.
One in five customers were without power in Madison and Oneida counties as of 7 p.m., according to National Grid. About 14% of customers were without power in Herkimer County.
About one in 10 customers of New York State Electric & Gas, a utility company that serves fewer people, were without power across the three counties as of 7 p.m. No restoration time was provided for those 1,089 customers on the company website.
The outages come as much of Upstate New York is under either an extreme heat warning or a heat advisory through Wednesday.
A potentially record-breaking combination of high temperatures and humidity could make it feel like 105 degrees in the coming days, according to the National Weather Service.
Strong storms that produced a tornado, strong winds and heavy rains lashed the region early Sunday. Three people died in an Oneida County hamlet after winds blew trees into homes.
National Grid spokesperson Jared Paventi said the type of damage dealt by the storm is what is driving restoration times.
Paventi said the storm damaged a large number of utility poles, either by trees falling onto them or because high winds knocked them over. It can take one crew more than six hours to replace a single pole.
The storm also damaged some sub-transmission lines in the region, Paventi said. Those lines shuttle large amounts of power and are located in remote, off-road areas, where extensive tree damage is slowing repairs.
The state Health Department has compiled a list of cooling stations.
Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.