Severe thunderstorms and powerful wind gusts swept across Rockland County Saturday night, leaving 6,466 Orange & Rockland customers without power as utility crews worked through the night to respond to downed trees, damaged power lines, and hazardous conditions.

According to Orange & Rockland, the hardest-hit communities in Rockland County were Clarkstown, with 2,707 customers without electricity, followed by Orangetown with 1,518 outages, and the Town of Haverstraw with 748 customers affected. The outages are part of a larger storm that left approximately 12,600 customers without power across New York and New Jersey.

O&R said its first priority is protecting public safety by securing hazardous areas and de-energizing downed power lines. Residents are urged to stay at least 50 feet away from any downed wires, assume they are energized, and immediately report them to 911 or Orange & Rockland.

Once conditions are safe, restoration efforts will focus on clearing downed wires blocking roadways and restoring power to hospitals, police and fire departments, and other critical infrastructure before crews move on to neighborhood and individual outages.