(Updated- Feb. 26) A power outage left more than 1,000 customers in the dark in central Riverhead this afternoon — including most of the Peconic Bay Medical Center’s main campus on Roanoke Avenue.
The hospital lost power at about 3:45 p.m., PMBMC president and CEO Andrew Mitchell said. The surgical pavilion was not affected, but the rest of the hospital was powered by the facility’s emergency generators, he said.
The TJMaxx shopping center briefly lost power. Some homes in the area of Middle Road and Roanoke Avenue are also without power, according to police. The traffic signal at the intersection of Roanoke Avenue and Middle Road is also out.
Firefighters were called to one of the stores in the shopping plaza at about 4:15 p.m. for a reported smell of smoke inside the store. No fire was found at the shopping plaza.
Police at the scene told RiverheadLOCAL a transformer failure on Middle Road and Harrison Avenue caused the outages. A spokesperson for PSEG-LI could not immediately be reached for comment.
Power was restored at about 4:35 p.m., according to radio reports.
PSEG said today the problem was caused by “a wire to wire connection point failure,” according to an email from utility to PBMC health.
Peter Blasl contributed reporting.
Editor’s note: The explanation provided by police that a “transformer failure” caused the outage yesterday was incorrect, according to a PSEG representative.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
