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Widespread Power Outages Across Tri-State, But Area Spared Worst Of Storm's Wrath

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Tens of thousands of homes across the Tri-State Area were in the dark Saturday due to the blizzard.

Officials had warned that the wet, heavy snow, combined with gusty winds, could bring down power lines.

The Long Island Power Authority reported about 3,400 homes and businesses without power as of 5 p.m. Most of the outages are in Suffolk County.

National Grid said some but not all customers on Long Island could have their power restored in 24 hours.

There were nearly 31,000 customers within the Tri-State Area without power as of Saturday evening.

Connecticut Light & Power as of later Saturday afternoon said about 27,000 homes and businesses were without power. Most of the outages are in the southeastern part of the state. Con Edison announced midday Saturday that it is sending crews to Connecticut to help with power restoration.

The outage situation is much less severe than some officials had planned on. Connecticut's two largest power companies had anticipated about 30 percent of their customers losing power, or roughly 400,000 homes and businesses.

LINKS: Con Edison |NYSEG | Long Island Power Authority | PSE&G |Jersey Central Power & Light | Atlantic City ElectricOrange & Rockland |Connecticut Light & Power | United Illuminated

NYSEG crews got about 6,000 customers back online early Saturday morning.

Con Edison reported hundreds of outages, most of them in Brooklyn.

PSE&G announced just before noon that its system was operating normally.

"Large amounts of snow fell in parts of our service territory, but fortunately, winds were not as severe as anticipated," the utility said in a statement. "Our employees and our system performed well."

New England bore the brunt of the storm, with roughly a half a million customers in total losing service.

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