Nearly 50,000 New York residents lose power as heat wave grips the city
- Nearly 50,000 New York City residents lost power on Sunday evening as the third day of an intense heat wave grips the city.
- Temperatures soared in New York City over the weekend, approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of New York City, according to AccuWeather, and were exacerbated by the humidity.
- According to Con Edison's outage map, over 49,000 people throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, as well as the surrounding area, were still without power as of 10:00 p.m. local time.
- A spokesperson for Con Edison told Business Insider that outages were caused by "continued high heat and high electrical usage" and said some customers were shut off from power in order to protect electrical equipment from further damage.
Nearly 50,000 New York City residents lost power on Sunday evening as the third day of an intense heat wave grips the city.
Temperatures soared in New York City over the weekend - approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the city, according to Accuweather - exacerbated by the humidity.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday urged residents to take precaution and stay hydrated during the intense heat.
"It's serious stuff," he said in a video posted to Twitter. "Friday is going to be bad, Saturday is going to be really bad on through Sunday."
According to Con Edison's outage map, over 49,000 people throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, as well as surrounding areas, were still without power as of 10:00 p.m. local time.
A spokesperson for Con Edison told Business Insider that outages were caused by "continued high heat and high electrical usage" and said some customers were shut off from power in order to protect electrical equipment from further damage.
The spokesperson said the company was working to restore power as quickly as possible and anticipated most customers would have their service restored by mid-Monday morning.
The energy company said that roughly 33,000 customers in Brooklyn had their service cut in order to make repairs.
Fox5NY journalist Briella Tomassetti tweeted a photo from Old Mill Basin in Brooklyn which showed much of the neighborhood in total darkness.
On Thursday, the US National Weather Service issued a national advisory warning that dangerous heat and humidity was to be expected across the country. Temperatures across the US soared over the weekend, according to Accuweather, extending from the central portion of the country to the East Coast.
At least two heat-related deaths have been reported since Thursday.
The average temperature in June soared to its highest level on record, and experts predict that July could follow the same pattern.