Hundreds of residents lose power in South Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Amid these hot and humid conditions, hundreds of people in south Buffalo lost power Wednesday and some are still without power.

National Grid told News 4 about 700 people in south Buffalo lost power Wednesday morning. Since then, about 500 people have had electricity restored, but there are still homes and businesses that go much of the day without power or air conditioning.

Residents in the area of ​​Eden Street and Downing Street, off South Park Avenue, were affected by the power outage. Initially, National Grid estimated the restoration time to be around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, but it was pushed back to 8:15 p.m. Wednesday.

News 4 saw a National Grid crew on scene, working to restore power. Jimmy’s Auto Repair on South Park Avenue was dark all day. They were working on cars, when all of a sudden everything inside stopped working and couldn’t continue.

“We also have a credit card machine, so you can’t use that to pay for their car, because the machine is broken because there’s no electricity, so we’re just a little bit stuck ” Jimmy Barrett said. the owner of Jimmy’s Auto Repair. “I’m just waiting, hopefully the power will be back on by the end of the day so they can all have their cars.”

But Barrett knows many customers will be disappointed given the situation.

“I have all these cars, people waiting for their cars to be picked up. I don’t have an inspection machine because the power is out, I don’t have a phone because the power is out. It’s hurting business, it’s tough these days,” Barrett said.

News 4 also spoke with Robert Coniglio who called News 4 to find out when his power would be restored. He has been without power all day. He said he could stay with his sister for the night, who was not affected by the outage.

“It’s at least about 100 degrees, I don’t have a thermometer, but it’s about 100 degrees (inside his house),” Coniglio said.

National Grid says the outage was entirely due to equipment failure and was not related to excessive heat. Crews will continue to work through the evening to restore power.
News 4 will continue to monitor the situation via National Grid’s outage map.