Bad News: Parts of New York City Could Be Without Power for Up to a Week

Lower Manhattan goes dark during the hybrid storm Sandy, on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, viewed from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Authorities warned that New York City and Long Island could get the worst of the storm surge: an 11-foot onslaught of seawater that could swamp lower areas of the city. (Credit: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) -- New York City's utility company says residents who lost power during superstorm Sandy could be without power anywhere from several days to a week, the Associated Press reports.

Consolidated Edison says it's dealing with several different issues - downed overhead lines, a planned shutdown of underground networks and an unexpected explosion at a substation that darkened a large part of lower Manhattan. The company intentionally shut off certain parts of the power grid to limit the damage from the storm.

Senior Vice President John Miksad says the planned outage should take three to four days to restore, while the explosion and the downed lines could take up to a week.

The company said 670,000 customers are without power in New York City and Westchester. A customer is an individual meter, so the number of actual people affected is likely higher.

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