Governor Andrew Cuomo made a stop in Rochester at the airport on Friday, talking about state efforts to aid the region with the damage and power outages from the recent windstorm.
At that news conference, Pres. & CEO of RG&E Mark Lynch announced more specifics about the restoration efforts, saying that most of their customers in Monroe County should get their power restored by late Sunday.
"From a planning perspective, for all the people out there we're really looking at having 90 percent of all of our customers in the Monroe County area restored by the end of the day on Sunday and the majority of the remaining 10 percent on Monday, with a few stragglers going into Tuesday."
Lynch says there are 1,500 people on the ground working on the situation. And over 600 additional workers are on the way.
National Grid said it expects to have power restored to 90 percent of its customers by midnight Friday night.
As of early Saturday morning, RG&E listed about 47,000 customers without power in Monroe County, and about 2,000 in Wayne County.
National Grid had about 2,000 outages in Monroe and another 2,000 in Orleans County.
Cuomo said that utility crews from all over the state are on their way here to help, as well as the National Guard. "You will see crews and trucks coming into Monroe from all across the state. As far away as New York City, crews will already be on their way up to help."
Cuomo says they'll do a damage assessment to determine if the damage sustained would qualify for federal emergency funds.
He says 200 National Guard troops are also headed here to help, with more on the way if needed.
He says they will be able to help with transportation, clearing of trees, and management of shelters.
Cuomo says as the temperatures continue to drop, people without power should consider the many shelters that have been set up.
Cuomo says this is one of those situations where, as New Yorkers, we need to help each other.
“Check on an elderly neighbor, knock on a door, ask people if they need any help, sometimes people can become disoriented in situations like this, so acting as a good neighbor is important."
Cuomo also says that the NYS DOT has more than 300 workers on the ground working around the clock to clear trees and reopen roads. The NYS Dept. of Public Service is also monitoring restoration efforts and State Police have directed extra Troopers to respond to the region.
UPDATE: Irondequoit will have another "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" push, at 3:30pm Saturday, where volunteers help check up on homes with elderly residents. They will meet at 3:30pm Saturday in the front Lobby of Irondequoit High School, 260 Cooper Road.
