Heat May Be To Blame For Major Power Outages In Brooklyn, Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The hot weather on Wednesday was being blamed for power outages in parts of the area, making it difficult for many to keep cool.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, Con Edison said it was investigating to see whether hot weather was a factor in a power outage in Bushwick, Brooklyn. About 400 customers were without power in the neighborhood late Wednesday.
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The power went out between 3 and 4 p.m. Wednesday – in what CBS2 was told was mostly residential buildings.
Officers were seen directing traffic here at DeKalb and Knickerbocker avenues because the street lights were out.
Employees at Hi Mango Natural Market, at 341 Knickerbocker Ave., were waiting outside for the electricity in their store to go back on. Until then, they were to be closed for business.
"The ice cream and all the frozen stuff is getting melted," said store employee Paola Sanchez.
Cory Rillahan was without power at his building. He said there was no air conditioning and it was impossible to stay inside.
"I live on the top floor. It's sweltering. I feel bad," he said. "I mean, my cat's up there – I got as much water out as I can – but it's real hot. So I've been outside walking around went to a bar to have a drink to cool down."
There was a similar situation in Flushing, Queens, where smoke was seen coming from an underground transformer fire and a nearby manhole at Roosevelt Avenue and Prince Street.
The FDNY had to put out the flames as another 400 customers there lost power with scattered outages throughout the area.
With no air conditioning, most residents chose to stay outside or leave.
"There's no lights, no anything," said Shantell Kelly of Flushing. "We had to take the stairs downstairs, and it's like so dark I had to download a flashlight app. No elevators -- it's just crazy."
Con Ed crews were still working at the scene as of 9 p.m. They had hoped to have power back on by 11 p.m., but it remained out when 11 p.m. came around.
"Everything's shut off, so I started packing stuff… got to go," Kelly said.
There were no reports of evacuations, but with this heat wave ahead, the outages on Wednesday could be the beginning of several power problems in the coming days.
