LIPA: Rockaways Too Damaged To Repair

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand toured the damage in the Rockaways.
Photo provided by the Borough President’s office.

queenstribune.com - by Natalia Kozikowska
November 15, 2012

With some residents approaching their third week without power, the Long Island Power Authority has removed the Rockaways from its power outage map, citing the area as simply too damaged by Superstorm Sandy to restore electrical service at this time.

Nick Lizanich, vice president of transmission and distribution at LIPA, said that restoring power in the Rockaways in its current condition could potentially create a dangerous situation because many of the homes that sustained flood damage contained massive amounts of water that came out of the ocean and Jamaica Bay, leaving electrical panels under water.

“When it is under water, especially sea water, you end up with salt contamination and debris contamination, such that if we were to try and put the power on, there is the possibility the house could catch on fire,” Lizanich said.

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