By Andrew Coen
On Tuesday, June 24, when the high temperature reached 94 degrees, 805 Long Island Power Authority customers in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway area suffered outages during a 24-hour period, which is higher than normal, according to LIPA spokesman Michael Loundes. Loundes attributed the high number of outages to customers' running their air-conditioners at full blast at the same time.
On the first couple of hot days, where everyone has the air-conditioning on at the same time, it can cause too much demand and stress, said Loundes.
One of the outages last Tuesday occurred at the corner of Broadway and Franklin Avenue in Hewlett at about 3 p.m. It was not clear, however, if it was related to the hot weather. A flag on a pole wrapped around an electrical wire and caught fire, which damaged the telephone wires and fiber optics, according to Hewlett Fire Department Chief Rod Legrow.
When we got there, the flag had burned to a crisp, said Legrow. Two fire extinguishers put out the fire, he said.
The fire department and police were at the scene for 30 to 45 minutes, according to Legrow, which caused a massive traffic jam on the already congested two-lane Broadway. The burning wires caused two nearby businesses, Johnny's Signs, at 1180 Broadway, and Telinx, a telemarketing company, to lose power. It blocked off the whole street and we couldn't get the customers in, said Rick Roth, owner of Johnny's Signs. We had to close for the day. According to Roth, the store did not regain power until 2:30 a.m. the following day. Telinx lost both power and telephone service.
After the temperature on Sunday, June 22, reached a high of only 63 degrees with periods of rain, temperatures quickly rose during the work week. The high temperature for Monday was 83 degrees, Tuesday's was 94 degrees, Wednesday's, 92, Thursday's, 93, and Friday's, 91. Thursday was considered the most uncomfortable day, with the 93-degree heat combined with 83 percent humidity.
A cold front from the Midwest brought a temporary end to the heat wave for the weekend.
In order to avoid power outages during future heat waves, Loundes suggested that homeowners use certain household appliances at off-peak hours. We're urging people to run their home appliances like dryers, washing machines and dishwashers in the early morning or evening when there is less demand, and it will mean less stress on supply and free up more supply, he said.
LIPA also urged customers to use energy-saving lightbulbs, eliminate non-essential electric use, put air-conditioners on timers, set them to 78 degrees, use fans to circulate cool air and set refrigerators and freezers to the most efficient temperature.
