Home > Storms & Outages > What to Expect During Storm‑Related Outages

What to Expect BEfore, During, and After a STorm

Before a Storm

1)

Pre-Storm Warning

Within 48 hours of a storm, you’ll receive information by email, social media, and the website. You may also receive text notifications if signed up for this service. These updates include safety tips, outage reporting instructions, and what Central Hudson is doing to prepare.

What Else We're Doing

Mutual Aid & Partnerships

Before a storm, Central Hudson coordinates with mutual aid crews, municipal leaders, telecom providers, tree services, and first responders to make sure everyone is ready to work together to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

During a Storm

 

2)

Reporting outages

If your power goes out, you can report it online, through the Central Hudson mobile app, text, or by phone. Central Hudson assigns crews and provides estimated restoration times when available. 

What Else We're Doing

Damage Assessment & Restoration Priorities

Crews assess storm damage through reported outages, field inspections and remote monitoring to prioritize repairs. We focus first on public health and safety organizations, then work toward restoring power to everyone. 

 

3)

Outage Map & Updates

You can check the online outage map to see repair progress and estimated restoration times. The map updates every 10 minutes and shows active outages, the number of customers affected, and crew assignments. After you report an outage, your location will first appear as “Pending.” As crews begin their work, the status changes to “Assessing damage,” meaning we’re determining what broke, what repairs are needed, and in what order those repairs must happen to safely restore power. Once that assessment and scheduling are complete, the map will display an estimated restoration time. During major storms, a town-level estimate may appear first while we work toward more precise, customer-specific times.

Text
  • Status progression: Pending → Assessing damage → Estimated restoration time.
  • Why times aren’t immediate in big storms: Crews must locate hazards, assess circuits, prioritize critical services, and stage materials before posting accurate estimates.
  • What the map shows: Active outages, number of customers affected, status updates, and crew assignments. It does not display exact crew locations or step-by-step repair tasks
  • Community resources: During extended outages, the map highlights dry ice and bottled water distribution sites—look for the ice icon to find locations and hours.

 

4)

Customer Communication

In addition to the outage map, you receive regular updates through social media, email, website updates, call center messaging, and often text alerts. Information includes storm details, customers affected, estimated restoration times, progress updates, outage reporting, and—when applicable—dry ice, water, and warming center locations.

 

5)

Special Needs Customers

If you have special needs and have signed up for the Life Support Equipment Program, you can expect a courtesy phone call when bad weather is expected, and daily phone check-ins in the event of power outages. If you cannot be reached, someone may come to your location to check on you.

After a Storm

6)
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After Restoration

You receive personalized notifications when power is restored, along with system-wide updates via email, text, social media, and website posts.

What Else We're Doing

Follow up

Crews perform circuit sweeps, review storm damage, address vegetation issues, and capture lessons learned to improve future response