Storm floods LIPA substation on Fire Island causing outage

What happened

A coastal storm overnight on Tuesday led to flooding at a LIPA substation at Ocean Beach on Fire Island. PSEG turned off power to the station just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, affecting about 1,700 customers. A crew was ferried to the island and inspected the substation. The utility said the inspection found no lasting damage. The substation was re-energised and power was restored by 2:30 p.m. the same day.

Contributing factors

The source attributes the flooding at the substation to the coastal storm. It also reports high winds and storm surge elsewhere on Fire Island, but it does not state that those effects flooded the station.

Lessons learned

1. Substations in coastal or flood-prone locations need flood protection and a clear decision to de-energise if water reaches the site.
2. Pre-planned access, including ferry access to barrier islands, supports a prompt inspection after a storm.
3. A short outage can still affect a large number of customers, so restoration plans should be ready before the inspection is finished.

Source

newsday.com