NEWS
Great windstorm of 2017: What we know
Todd Clausen, and Will Cleveland
Democrat and Chronicle
About 132,000 homes and businesses in the six-county Rochester region remained without power Thursday afternoon as recovery efforts begin in earnest after Wednesday's windstorm.
Here's what we know:
- Greece schools will be closed for the second consecutive day Friday. East Rochester, Rochester, Pittsford, Gates Chili, Brockport, Spencerport. West Irondequoit, East Irondequoit, Penfield, Webster and Hilton schools will also be closed. Hilton announced it will still host the SAT on Saturday. Aquinas, Bishop Kearney and McQuaid will also close Friday.
- Brighton schools will be open Friday. "We will send additional information if that changes," the schools posted on Twitter.
- Monroe Community College will be open Friday for all classes and activities. MCC's Applied Technologies Center will be closed.
- The St. Patrick's Day Parade in Rochester will proceed as originally planned. It begins at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of East Avenue and Alexander Street. Streets in the area will be closed from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The parade route (moving west down East Avenue to East Main Street, then will turn west on East Main and end at the corner of East Main and South Plymouth Avenue) will be closed to vehicular traffic until 3:30 p.m. For more information, call (585) 234-5167 or visit www.rochesterparade.com.
- The number of customers out in the region has begun declining as restoration work takes hold. RG&E cannot yet say when power will be restored in any given spot.
- National Grid estimates power for many of the 8,400 customers in Monroe County without power, mainly in western Monroe County (Chili, Brockport, Hamlin, Clarkson), could return Thursday night. National Grid estimated 90 percent of those customers should have power back by Friday evening.
- Many hotels in Monroe County were completely booked Thursday night.
- About 89,000 RG&E customers in Monroe County, or roughly 30 percent of its customer base there, were waiting for the lights to come back on at 3:15 p.m. Another 8,400 National Grid customers in Monroe County also were without power.
- Almost 35,000 more customers were dark in the five surrounding counties. Genesee, Orleans and Wayne were hardest hit.
- At peak, at least 140,000 were without power in the six-county region. It was the most widespread power outage here in 14 years.
- Most school districts in Monroe County are closed, including Greece, East and West Irondequoit, Rochester, Webster and Gates Chili.
- Irondequoit has lifted its travel ban. As of 11 a.m., Greece was still advising against unnecessary travel.
- Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo lifted a countywide travel advisory, banning unnecessary travel.
- RG&E said it was prioritizing power restoration at critical locations such as police stations and health-care facilities. The company also is focusing on repair of major transmission and distribution lines first.
- County health officials were reminding residents without power to check refrigerated food items. Here is a list of tips.
- Many area roads remained closed Thursday due to toppled trees and power lines.
- Many traffic lights are not functioning. Treat those intersections as four-way stops.
- Winds gusted to 40, 50 and 60 mph much of the day, broke 70 mph around 1 p.m. and then hit an astonishing 81 mph at 1:35 p.m.
- About 150 utility crews from the Albany area are coming to help restore power in the Rochester region.
- There were no reports of serious injuries related to the storm.The Greater Rochester Chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter at the David F. Gantt Center, 700 North St., Rochester, for people displaced by or without power after the windstorm.
- Time Warner Cable said 99 percent of its service disruption is related to local power outages. "We will have a better sense of any additional impact once power companies finish their work and areas are deemed safe for us to go in and fix any damage," a spokesperson said.
- Every Wegmans store in the Rochester area is fully operational Thursday morning. Four stores (Penfield, Holt Road, Lyell Avenue and Mt. Read) were operating on power generators Thursday morning. Spokeswoman Jo Natale said Wegmans is working to supply additional ice, batteries, flashlights and candles to stores in the hardest hit areas.
- Thursday's high temperature is expected to hit 40 degrees but lows tonight could be in the low 20s.
- The Monroe County 911 center received 11,460 calls related to the windstorm.
- Delivery of the Democrat and Chronicle's print edition will be delayed in many parts of the region. The e-edition is available for viewing now, and access to our website is free Thursday and Friday.
- The power's out Lovin’ Cup Bistro and Brews and as such, the D&C Storytellers: Landing in ROC event has been rescheduled for March 16 at Lovin’ Cup. Tickets for the previously scheduled March 9 event will be honored next week. Refunds are also available. Questions? Contact Sheila Rayam at srayam@gannett.com.
Check back for further updates.
COMPLETE STORM COVERAGE
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►Unseasonably cold temps on the way
►No power? Here's where to find shelter
►What caused the storm? Blame the sun
►10 tips for safe generator use
►911 center flooded with calls
►Stay away from downed power lines
►Trimming a tree? Do it safely
►What to do when the power goes out
►Then and now: 2017 storm vs. 1991