SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Thousands of home and business owners were left without power Saturday night and Sunday after high winds knocked down trees and power lines across the region.

A wind gust of more than 60 miles per hour was recorded Saturday night at Syracuse’s Hancock Airport.

As of 10 a.m. Sunday, National Grid workers have restored power to nearly 148,000 of the more than 215,000 customers impacted by the storm statewide.

In the Central New York region, about 15,000 customers were without power during the height of the storm.

Crews from North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada, are helping with the efforts.

The hardest-hit areas are along the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, including Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Monroe, Oswego, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.

Barnett warns locals of impacted areas that these efforts take time and that cleanup, reconstruction, and restoration will be labor-intensive and time-consuming.

Hardest hit areas can expect some power outages to extend beyond 48 hours potentially.

“In addition to our critical public safety activities, we are assessing the damage to our system and equipment to provide estimated restoration times,” said Barnett.

National Grid will contribute dry ice and bottled water today from noon to 4 p.m. at the locations below:

Oswego Fire Dept (back parking lot)
35 East Seneca Street
Oswego NY 13126

For further information on outages, restoration, and cleanup times or tips on how to stay safe, visit the National Grid power outage map, the NYSEG power outage map, or National Grid’s site.