Nearly 3,500 greater Cortland area utility customers were without power Wednesday afternoon as winds and rain ripped through the area.
National Grid reported 2,474 customers without power in at least five separate outages. Most of those came in DeRuyter, with 1,138 without power, and Tully with 1,252 powerless.
New York State Electric & Gas Corp. reported another 743 customers without power in at least eight separate incidents in Dryden and Groton. One power outage in Groton totaled 362 customers. Power was out in Virgil, McGraw and Scott, as well. Outages were also reported in Truxton, Cuyler, Solon and Lapeer.
The downed lines come as winds gusted up to 45 mph, the National Weather Service at Binghamton reports. Accompanying the winds is heavy precipitation, which was to turn to a wintry mix by Wednesday night, snow Thursday, rain and snow on Friday and back to rain on Saturday. Forecasters expect up to 2 inches of rain and another 1 to 2 inches of wet, heavy snow.
A flood watch remains in effect until midnight Thursday in Cortland County and much of the rest of Central New York and the Southern Tier. However, the National Water Prediction Service expects the Tioughnioga River at Cortland to crest Thursday afternoon at 7.8 feet. Flood stage is 8 feet. It does not expect flooding either at the Otselic River in Cincinnatus or the Moravia inlet of Owasco Lake.
NYSEG and National Grid both reported they pre-staged thousands of workers, both line crews and tree specialists, to get ready for the storm, and reports of scattered downed limbs and trees dotted Cortland County on Wednesday afternoon.
If you encounter a downed line, NYSEG suggests, Stay at least 30 feet from it.
If it comes in contact with your vehicle, stay inside and wait for help. If you must get out because of fire or other danger, jump clear of the vehicle to avoid any contact with the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Land with your feet together and hop with feet together or shuffle away; don’t run or stride.
