TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—A summer thunderstorm, paired with the failing of a NYSEG substation, has left over 2,000 Tompkins County residents without power on one of the hottest days of the year so far.
NYSEG lists 2,047 customers as without power on their website as of 3:55 p.m., many of which were listed before the storm even came through the area around 3:15 p.m. on Monday. That could have been the result of a NYSEG substation “going down,” according to a tweet from Mayor Svante Myrick. Outages were reported in Ithaca, Dryden and Ulysses.
That had knocked out several blocks of street lights around downtown Ithaca, where response crews could be seen scrambling to direct traffic. That was especially true on West Seneca Street, where a downed power line over Shortstop Deli had slowed traffic to a crawl. Again, the power line had come down before the storm even started.
Power restoration times range from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, according to NYSEG.