Long Island utility reports gains in power effort
Long Island utility says 99 percent of those who can get power have had it restored
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -- The Long Island Power Authority said Tuesday that 99 percent of customers who are able to safely receive power have their lights back on following Superstorm Sandy and last week's nor'easter.
That means there are still 10,136 outages in Nassau and Suffolk counties. LIPA officials have said they hope to have most of them back by sometime Wednesday.
The 99 percent figure also doesn't include 35,000 customers who suffered flood damage.
The utility says they need electrical repairs on their property before power can be restored. The majority of those customers — 27,000 — are in the hard-hit Rockaways section of New York City that is served by LIPA.
For those needing electrical work, LIPA says it has set up assistance centers to help with the process of restoring power.
