Avella Grades City, Con Ed on Hurricane Irene Response

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside gave high grades to the city for its preparation for Hurricane Irene’s visit last month, but said he believed the follow-up to the storm was flawed.

The senator gave Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city agencies involved in the preparations for the storm an ‘A’ grade in a report he sent out yesterday, while handing out an overall ‘B’ grade to Con Edison for its response.

But Avella gave the city a ‘C+’ for its follow-up in city neighborhoods where power lines and trees had been knocked down.

“This was certainly an unprecedented event in the city’s history, with damage across five boroughs,” the senator said. “Overall, Bloomberg did an outstanding job in notifying the public and calling for evacuations of areas certain to experience the worst storm surge. He was especially effective in emphasizing the dangers presented by the storm prior to its arrival and effectively leading New Yorkers through the storm.”

But Avella said city residents often felt “helpless” and “confused” as they attempted to report trees and power lines that had crashed down on their communities.

“Residents stated that they were unable to reach operators for hours even after calling multiple times,” he said. “Once they were finally able to reach an operator, they either had their complaint processed and were not given a confirmation number or were told to contact the mayor’s office directly. When contacting the mayor’s office, they would then be referred to the Office of Emergency Management and, often times, were referred right back to 311.”

Avella said trees blocked streets or remained on homeowners’ properties for more than a week after the storm had passed.

He said Con Edison handled the storm well, but also lowered the utility’s overall grade for follow-up.

“Con Edison was extremely responsive initially and was on top of downed power lines,” he said. “They also worked diligently to restore power throughout the area. Their efforts are to be commended and would have received an ‘A’ if they had been better following up with households that had lost power.”

A spokesman for the utility said Con Ed appreciated the patience of customers who were left without power.

“Thousands of Con Edison men and women worked around the clock to restore customers as quickly and safely as possible,” he said.