By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Winds gusting up to 83 miles per hour were wreaking havoc throughout the region Thursday.
The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge was closed to all traffic Thursday morning after high winds tipped over a tractor trailer on the 190 just south of the international crossing. And more than 36,000 National Grid customers are without power because of fallen trees and broken utility poles.
The hardest hit areas are up into Niagara and Orleans Counties, according to National Grid spokesman Steve Brady. He said repair crews are working hard to stay ahead of Mother Nature.
"All of our western divison crews are in and working and have been the entire day, so in a specific geographic area we may be making progress but, quite literally we could be restoring service on one end of town and be losing service on the other end of the town," said Brady.
Brady said they are bringing in upwards of 100 extra crews Thursday and Friday to help restore service as quickly as possible.
A wind advisory remained in effect for Western New York until 8:00 PM Thursday.