The Long Island Power Authority has not one but three maps showing power outages and restorations. I'm not sure which is most informative. Each of these are from the evening of Saturday, November 3, 2012. Please click through to the page linked for current updates.
Some news that goes along with this:
Newsday, Tuesday November 6: "Cuomo blasts delays in power restoration as 'unacceptable'"
Criticism of LIPA's outage map prompted the utility to produce a new format.
It came under intense heat and skepticism Monday after ratepayers noticed outages in their area were reported to be considerably smaller than they knew to be the case.
Hervey said LIPA sharply cut back the touted capability of the map to remove most interactivity, including restoration times in specific neighborhoods, and other details of outages, because the features weren't working.
Newsday, Monday Novmeber 5: "New storm, LIPA outages, gas lines frustrate LIers"
As he did last week, Cuomo expressed anger at utilities.
"The progress is unacceptable," he said. "I think that the utility companies have not performed adequately. The utilities are paid to provide service. They should have been prepared."
Newsday, Monday November 5: "Cuomo: Power restoration progress unacceptable"
LIPA chief operating officer Michael Hervey on Sunday acknowledged a large backlog in uploading current information to the outage system. Crews are focused on work, he said, but LIPA is working harder to get the information current and accurate.
That's not enough for Pat Davis, who was forced to evacuate her Merrick home because the family could not remain there with their 1-year-old as temperatures dropped below 50 degrees. She said the outage map shows only 1,000 outages in the neighborhood, but "I do not know anybody south of Merrick Road with power, as well as many north of Merrick Road without power."
Newsday, Monday November 5: "Protesters demonstrate outside of LIPA offices"
Their frustration at a boiling point over the lack of power in their homes, about 25 residents of North Woodmere, Woodmere Park and Cedarhurst marched on a LIPA customer service center in Hewlett Monday morning, demanding to be heard.
A sign on the door of the large National Grid/LIPA complex on Mill Road read: "This office is temporarily closed."
LIPA was reporting that 263,000 customers remained without power as of Monday morning, down from the high of 945,000 a week ago. The number excludes around 30,000 customers in the Rockaway Peninsula, Long Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Fire Island whose homes were so badly damaged they cannot take electric service.
The outage map, a critical link to many customers seeking information on their anticipated restoration time, has taken a skewering since the storm began. First it reported thousands more outages than some hamlets or villages had actual LIPA customers.
On day five of the largest outage in Long Island history, LIPA received unprecedented levels of reinforcements -- 900 line workers from Canada, Florida and Arizona, some airlifted here with their equipment, according to Hervey. The flights were arranged by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo working with federal officials. The total workforce is now well over 3,100 workers.
LIPA spokesman Mark Gross said the number of workers in the field would be 4,300 by this morning, with another 1,000 being added by day's end, which would be more workers than any prior LIPA restoration effort.
This dramatic map shows areas where power is out (in red), where it has been restored (in blue), and where there was never a service interruption (in grey). It's from the LIPAnews Facebook page and from the LIPA Storm Center map update from Saturday, November 3:
A second map from the LIPA Storm Center shows each separate outage or set of outages as a push pin. Notice how the map is quickly overwhelmed with problems.
A third LIPA Storm Center map counts the outages by town, with a pop-up menu offering to further detail the outages by village. I had a hard time loading this map, but here it is as of 11:18 p.m. Saturday, November 3, 2012.
No matter how you visualize it, 450,000+ people without power is a lot of power problems.
