'A Crisis On Our Hands': Westchester Residents Facing Another Round Of Power Outages
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Residents in Westchester County were digging out while dealing with another round of power outages Thursday.
Snow totals varied across the county from 5 inches in Yonkers to a foot or more in northern communities, like Cortland Manor.
Con Edison reported more than 19,000 customers without power in Westchester late Thursday night, while NYSEG had more than 8,000 outages in the county.
"We have a crisis on our hands," Westchester County Executive George Latimer said earlier in the day. "We have a crisis that requires the coordination between the state, the county and the local governments."
Con Ed said Wednesday's nor'easter caused an additional 40,000 power outages -- on top of the 20,000 customers who had been in the dark since Friday's snowstorm.
The utility company said crews were giving higher priority to customers who lost electricity during the first storm and expects outages from both storms will last into the weekend.
Latimer has been critical of Con Ed's management and has called for accountability.
"Let's be clear: I am not critical of the line employees who are out there hanging out in a bucket truck 30 feet above the ground trying," he said. "I'm critical of those suits in the corporate board rooms who are not facing the public."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CBS2's Marcia Kramer he was considering revoking the utility company's license.
Watch: CBS2's Tony Aiello reports from New Rochelle.
Meanwhile, residents say their patience is waning.
"At first it was Sunday night after that Friday, and then it was Tuesday, then it Wednesday, and now I think it's something like Friday," Mount Kisco resident Dave Schwitten said. "But we're being told by the town that it might be pushed into the weekend."
But help was on the way, as hundreds of utility works arrived from across the country. Nearly 500 bags of dried ice were distributed in New Rochelle, so families could at least keep groceries fresh.
"It feels like Sandy all over again," said Bedford resident Devil Mulhare.
"Power went out again for a lot of other people, and we didn't know where we were in the priority," Bedford resident Autri Gutta said. "Half the neighborhood is out, because they can't live in their houses when there's no heat or electricity."
Watch: CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reports from Rockland County.
Frustrations were also piling up in Rockland County.
James Stiles told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez a tree in front of his Clarkstown home was lying on top of power lines for at least 24 hours.
"It doesn't make sense, and you know they're probably not going to work on it at night," he said.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the National Guard was on its way to help with cleanup.
"Their mission will be to focus on moving the wood. Let's get the trees out of the way, because that is really stopping a number of things – it's stopping restoration in some areas, it's affecting our plowing," he said.
A massive tree in Suffern claimed the life of 88-year-old Barbara Suleski when it came crashing down on her in her driveway during the height of the storm.
"(She) wanted to shovel, you know help out with the sweeping away from her sidewalk. She couldn't get out of the way of that, and it's a tragedy," her son told Sanchez.
Sloatsburg suffered the brunt of the storm, getting buried under more than two feet of snow.
"I just want to be done with this. It's a lot of work," one resident said.
"As we're shoveling, right behind us, it just builds right up," another added. "It's amazing. I haven't seen this much snow like in 20 years."
Exhausted residents hope it will be another 20 years before they see this much snow again.
