An early spring storm left more than 80,000 utility customers without power in the Capital Region on Sunday morning.
Albany and Rensselaer counties were among the hardest hit areas smacked by a blend of snow and ice, making up for 81% of all National Grid customers left in the dark around 9 a.m. By early Sunday evening, some 40,000 homes were back online.
Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said that power outages were the biggest problem the county faced after the storm.
“Very minimal on the accident side and our major issue is the power,” Zurlo said. “A lot of poles down, tree limbs down on top of wires, etcetera.”
In Saratoga County, most of the power issue was south of Malta. In both the town and village of Waterford, 3,109 customers were impacted by outages on Sunday morning. Later that day, the number was reduced to 389 for the town and 1,160 for the village.
“If you look at the combination of the storm, it was rain, freezing rain, snow,” said Waterford Town Supervisor David Ball. “It was everything thrown at the wall at once, which is a tough combination.”
The storm began Saturday morning, intensified in the late afternoon and tapered off before midnight. Highway crews spent the night clearing off the roadways.
With a high of 38 degrees and low of 17 on Sunday, the town opted to use the Waterford Senior Community Center as an emergency warming station.
Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District offered to use the high school as a warming station, but later put a pause on plans after experiencing generator troubles.
“They’re going to try to see if they can get to the bottom of it, but that won’t be available until they can be sure that they’re safe to operate at the moment,” Ball said. “So it’s a pretty interesting mix of issues at the moment.”
Neighboring Halfmoon officials also opened up a warming shelter at the Town Hall off county Highway 95. Blankets and light refreshments were available.
“The safety and well-being of our Town residents are our top priorities,” said Halfmoon Town Supervisor Kevin Tollisen in a statement. “This warming shelter is a testament to Halfmoon’s commitment to community support and resilience in the face of adversity.”
A bevy of businesses shut down early as a result of the storm, including Other One Brewing Company in Halfmoon, Slice of Glenville and Tribes Hill Deli & Beverage in the town of Mohawk.
This marked the most intense ice storm since December 2008, according to meteorologist Thomas Wasula of the National Weather Service in Albany. The ‘08 storm still remains one of the worst ice storms in decades, having left 240,000 households immediately without power, including some for as many as six days.
The impact of the most recent storm was a combination of ice — more than an inch — and heavy snow, which peaked locally with 21.2 inches in Northumberland. Queensbury experienced more than 20 inches of snow.
“Some regions saw more than 20 inches of heavy snow taking down trees and power lines,” said National Grid spokesperson Patrick Stella in an email. “Some damage has occurred in hard-to-reach, ‘back lot’ areas with no road access.”
Across the region, more than 2,000 National Grid workers have been out in the field, gradually restoring felled lines.
National Grid customers can report power outages to at 1-800-867-5222 or by calling 911. NYSEG customers can call 1-800-572-1131.
At NYSEG’s Oneonta and Mechanicville divisions, there are 1,500 customers without power, respectively. The electric and gas service company expects all power to be restored by midnight on Sunday, according to a press release.
National Grid estimates that all power will be restored in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties by 11 p.m. today.