Hurricane Sandy affects power infrastructure in the US
Working to support the recovery effort
The scope of damage left by hurricane Sandy in the Northeast United States has been both devastating and wide spread with thousands of people still suffering. In a continued effort to provide help to affected utilities and their customers, ABB has instituted a multi-pronged approach in response to this natural disaster.
Led by our medium voltage service center in Warminster, Pennsylvania, ABB is directly engaged and facilitating the restoration process by 1) providing equipment assessments and corrective action guidance for customers who are evaluating the damage and 2) supplying restoration products and services to those affected. ABB has also made a contribution to the American Red Cross in an effort to help individuals affected by this storm.
Throughout these past several weeks, ABB response teams representing each of our businesses have coordinated efforts to respond to the needs of affected utilities in an effort to minimize service downtime and hardship for their customers. Daily meetings have been held to discuss the needs, prioritize the actions, and coordinate the response. ABB has supported several projects, small and large, to support the restoration efforts.
For example, in New Jersey and New York, which saw major outages due to flooding and wind, our Pinetops, North Carolina team worked around the clock to produce and expedite shipment of thousands of fuse cutouts. In New York, ABB Relion® relays and replacement switchgear panels were expedited for the Brooklyn Navy Yard to replace damaged equipment. And across the region, where many people are still without power, ABB has over 20 medium and high voltage device technicians on the ground working with utility maintenance crews to get customers back up and running.
ABB factories that produce vital equipment for the electric grid have been working long hours preparing and responding to the needs of utilities in the affected areas. To date, tens of thousands of critical components have been shipped into the region. ABB employees in the Coral Springs, Florida facility, for example, worked non-stop over a weekend to expedite key protective relays and FT switches for emergency need. In the Lake Mary, Florida facility, additional capacity was brought into action to provide quick-response lead times for customers needing outdoor circuit breakers, reclosers and switchgear. ABB also leveraged the Thomas & Betts (T&B) facilities to provide resources and staging areas to assist customers in their relief efforts.
While the situation has improved, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done to restore the damaged electrical infrastructure. ABB is prepared to continue to work hard to support the recovery efforts.
As part of the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Support Program , a 24 hour hotline has been established at 1-800-HELP-365 (1-800-435-7365) to answer questions, get needed equipment, and to dispatch engineers and technicians to help restore equipment. Please call us and let us know how we can help.