For natural gas customers in Floyd-ravaged areas of the EastCoast it’s not over yet. Some are still underwater in NorthCarolina and others in New Jersey may not get gas service backuntil the end of the week.

“Our throughput is down between 15 and 20%,” said Gerald Teeleof North Carolina Natural Gas (NCNG). That includes commercial andsome industrial customers east of Interstate 95 and also powergeneration customers. Teele said about 40% of NCNG’s business lieseast of the interstate with much of it expected to remainunderwater until at least Wednesday when rivers in the area areexpected to crest.

“In some areas our technicians have had to work under four feetof water to find valves and shut them off. We have shut off systemsserving about 400 customers. Others have shut down themselves whenmeters get waterlogged or pilot lights were washed out. It’sraining again now and we could get another two inches from [thenewest storm] Harvey. This is not a picnic.” Teele said.

Gas and electric service is not the only problem. Some towns andthe city of Greenville, NC, don’t have a clean water supply. “It’sthe old saying ‘water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.'”

New Jersey is out from under water, but Public Service Electric& Gas has just begun to restore natural gas service to between15,000 and 20,000 customers. With all electric customers back onthe system, the utility has put 700 of its own gas technicians intothe field, plus 90 others on loan from several New York utilities.Appliances must be checked and pilot lights relighted individually.”This is necessarily a house-by-house, appliance-by-appliance,time-intensive effort.

“We’re starting with the worst areas such as Bound Brook andothers that are about that bad. It should take two to three days toget them back in service. Then we’ll work on areas where it’s notso widespread,” said Paul Rosen, PSE&G spokesman. He said theyexpected to have everyone back in service by the end of the week.

PSE&G personnel have been staffing Federal EmergencyManagement Agency/New Jersey State Emergency Centers in severalcities. In addition the utility has set up its own disasterinformation centers in 12 locations including police departments,train stations, grocery stores, senior citizen centers and fastfood outlets in the three worst-hit counties. The company isalerting customers to potential hazards such as pumping water outof their basements before making sure the gas is turned off.

PSE&G also said it has received word of repair people goingdoor-to-door, posing as PSE&G employees and asking for cashpayment to inspect appliances. The utility is warning customers tocheck for PSE&G’s photo identification before letting anyonein. Further PSE&G employees would not be asking for any paymentfor initial assessments of damage. “Should a customer be asked topay a fee of this service by someone who appears PSE&Gemployee, they should be cautious and call the police,” the companysaid.

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