Westchester prepares for power outages from the winter storm

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. (PIX11) -- New York City's northern suburbs expect significant power outages in the current storm because of high winds blowing on trees rooted in saturated soil.

Those trees, in turn, could topple over onto power lines, severing them. The high winds and heavy rains are expected to persist overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, followed by similar conditions at the end of the week, when another storm system is forecasted to blow in. 

On Tuesday, Con Edison sent out some tree trimming crews to cut down dead and decaying trees before the rain began. Once it did start to fall, though, its hazardous potential was noted by residents on one of the streets where a tree crew was. 

Tong Chow is one of those residents. He talked about how the rain and wind were not only weather-related threats but unseasonably so.

"The combine of the two," he said, poses a danger. "In January, that's unusual."

Indeed, in January, winter storms like the one the region is experiencing are typically snow events rather than rain ones. 

This time was different. It's why hundreds of utility trucks are at the ready at three different staging areas operated by Con Ed. The largest one is in the parking lot of Rye Playland, the amusement park in Westchester County. 

All day on Tuesday, utility workers in waves kept arriving at the Playland staging area from locations far and wide, hired by Con Ed to help restore power if it goes out.

"Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maryland, Virginia," is how Lori Miller listed some of the locations from which the utility workers have come to supplement Con Ed workers.

A total force of 1,200 workers has been assembled in Westchester County alone, and Miller, who happens to be a resident of the county, is one of the managers overseeing the effort. 

"Over three inches of rainfall, heavy winds overnight," she said about the conditions that could knock out power, "really, these crews will be ready for us tomorrow to begin that restoration effort."

Miller added one more point. Many of the workers that Con Ed has assembled are on standby beyond the current storm. They're here through the end of the week.

"Actually, we're expecting similar conditions on Friday, going into Saturday morning," she said. "We truly ramp up to make sure that our customers are not without power. "