A powerful storm moved through Ulster, Dutchess and Orange Counties on Tuesday afternoon bringing rain and powerful wind gusts that knocked out power to thousands, especially in the towns of Hyde Park, Poughkeepsie, La Grange, Town of Newburgh, Esopus, New Paltz and Lloyd.

“Central Hudson crews are in the field repairing over 200 individual damage locations that have interrupted service to more than 22,000 homes and businesses throughout the service area,” said Ryan Hawthorne Vice President of Electric Engineering and Operations at Central Hudson.

“Crews will continue to work throughout the night to restore power, however, given the severity of the existing damage, coupled with more storm activity in the forecast, we expect restoration efforts to continue into Wednesday in the most heavily impacted areas.”

“As crews assess damages in the field, restoration times will be updated on the Central Hudson outage map,” Hawthorne added.

Residents are advised to exercise an abundance of caution around downed power lines by staying at least 30 feet away and remember that downed lines can become entangled and hidden in fallen limbs. Residents should also remember to assume any downed power lines are live.