LIPA Power Outages Could Take Weeks To Repair, Here’s What You Need To Know To Get Help
LIPA power outages plague much of Long Island tonight as the second day of darkness following Sandy draws to a close, and it is unclear how much of the 90 percent of Long Island to have been plunged into darkness has power this evening.
LIPA power outages have been addressed on Twitter, where the company is offering a whole lot of nothing when it comes to estimated timelines for the Island to be restored to full power. LIPA spokesman Mark Gross said that while seven to 10 days was the original estimate ahead of Sandy, the revised restoration window could be longer:
“We did say seven to 10 days originally, but this storm was worse than anyone could have predicted… Customers should be prepared to wait a little longer than that.”
LIPA power outages persist across much of Long Island (my mother’s home among the estimated hundreds of thousands of LIPA customers in the dark), and residents are growing frustrated with a lack of detailed information being supplied by the utility tonight in the region, both on Twitter and off.
The social media rep tweeting for LIPA has also seemingly become frustrated with customers who are stuck home in the dark, getting snippy with residents who have taken to Twitter to get the 411 on their locality and when power will be restored. (So essentially, LIPA’s Twitter customer service is just like their phone lines.)
LIPA refuses to estimate how long it will be until power is restored, instead telling customers there is no information available on how long homes will remain dark while crews deal with Sandy’s wake. This evening, the following exchange occurred between one frustrated LIPA customer and the Twitter LIPA rep:
While LIPA power outages persist, LIPA also advises customers not to drop their guard when it comes to people who may claim to represent the utility, and tweets:
SAFETY: LIPA crews should NEVER have a reason to enter your house. Please tell your friends and family!
— LIPA (@LIPAnews) October 31, 2012
The utility also advises customers angry at a lack of visible LIPA crews that many working to restore electricity to Long Island have come from out of state and are using personal vehicles:
@sospokesaroj Out of state crew will not have the LIPA logo on their trucks, uniforms or helmets, but they are out there restoring #LI
— LIPA (@LIPAnews) November 1, 2012
LIPA did offer the following general information on restoration, saying:
LIPA #Restoration Updates: Restored power to 16 of 21 hospitals; Restored power to 22 Substations of 50 that were out of power
— LIPA (@LIPAnews) October 31, 2012
Anyone still experience a LIPA power outage is advised by the utility to reach out, and a tweet read:
.@sunnyshine713 Have you reported your outage? You can call it in at 800-490-0075 or visit mobile.lipower.org to report on mobile.
— LIPA (@LIPAnews) October 31, 2012
Are you a LIPA customer still in the dark after Sandy?
