Cities, towns and neighborhoods across the northeast have begun to recover from the severe wind damage and flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy on Monday night. Power has returned to some dark city blocks and streets. Subways and commuter trains have started moving. GE has been there to help.
GE makes the machines that produce power, like turbines, engines, and generators. Power plants largely deflected the storm’s blow but Sandy broke many smaller parts on the network. As a result, utilities can generate power but cannot bring it to millions of homes and businesses. Crews are scrambling to clear trees, get wires back up and replace transformers.
GE is rushing transformers to utility crews repairing power lines torn by Sandy’s damaging winds.
GE had been in touch with a dozen utilities in Sandy’s path before the hurricane hit and provided them with support and equipment. On Long Island, in New York, GE is rushing hundreds of new transformers to utilities like Consolidated Edison, National Grid, and Long Island Power Authority. South of New York City, GE workers are monitoring power distribution networks owned by FirstEnergy and PPL Electric Utilities, and support thousands of linemen, hazard responders, forestry workers, and call center representatives who are working non-stop to restore service to more than 1.5 million customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.
This work is personal. Thousands of GE employees live Sandy’s path and nearly a dozen have lost their homes in the storm. GE teams have provided them with lodging, generators, and supplies to keep them safe.
GE is also helping hospitals, refineries, and other critical providers to find spare power generators and acting as a middleman to connect them quickly with companies that own such equipment. GE Power & Water teams are holding daily calls to locate generators and fulfill requests for help.
But the effort goes beyond hardware. After New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center lost backup power, service teams from GE Healthcare have been helping doctors and nurses evacuate and transfer patients and equipment.
The recovery effort has only started, but the region can count on GE to be there and help.
