OG&E crews headed to New Jersey to help restore power in the wake of Isaias

Posted: Aug 6, 2020 / 06:30 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 6, 2020 / 06:30 AM CDT

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(CNN) — About 2.2 million homes and businesses have no electrical power after the powerful storm Isaias whipped through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Monday and Tuesday.

According to a tally from PowerOutage.US, the outages were concentrated in the tri-state area: As of Wednesday evening, power was out for more than 687,000 customers in New Jersey, some 634,000 customers in New York, and more than 678,000 customers in Connecticut. In all, outages stretched from North Carolina up to Maine.

UTTENBERG, NJ - AUGUST 04: A power line drops at the street after Tropical Storm Isaias and its treacherous winds and heavy rain passed through on August 4, 2020 in Guttenberg, New Jersey. Fallen trees and debris littered the streets across the area, leaving thousands of people without power and disrupting subway service, The storm, which regained hurricane strength Monday night, brought heavy rainfall, lightning, strong winds and flooding to the New York City area on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images) — GUTTENBERG, NJ – AUGUST 04: A power line drops at the street after Tropical Storm Isaias and its treacherous winds and heavy rain passed through on August 4, 2020 in Guttenberg, New Jersey. Fallen trees and debris littered the streets across the area, leaving thousands of people without power and disrupting subway service, The storm, which regained hurricane strength Monday night, brought heavy rainfall, lightning, strong winds and flooding to the New York City area on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

The storm system killed several people as it rippedthrough the East Coast after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, on Monday.

Isaias brought hurricane-force wind gusts to Long Island, according to unofficial reports from the National Weather Service. Peak wind gusts reached 67 mph in Greenwich, Connecticut, 68 mph at Newark Airport in New Jersey, and over 75 mph in multiple parts of New York’s Suffolk County, the weather service said.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said her family was among the 150,000 state residents who lost power during the storm. Isaias caused more outages in the state than during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, she said.

The storm moved into southeastern Canada as a post-tropical cyclone, bringing heavy rain and high winds over the province of Quebec.

There are 25,205 reported outages in Quebec, power company Hydro-Québec said in a tweet midday Wednesday.

Now, OG&E crews are preparing to head to New Jersey to help with the cleanup efforts and restore power to some neighborhoods.

Officials say there are 65 crews from Oklahoma headed to New Jersey.

The crews met on Thursday morning before getting in their trucks to drive to the Garden State. They are expected to arrive by Saturday and begin work on Sunday.

In all, states along the East Coast requested help in the form of 10,000 linemen from across the country.

Track the storm’s path

At least 7 dead in storm’s path

At least seven people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias made its way across the East Coast on Monday and Tuesday.

At least two were killed when a tornado struck a mobile home park in Windsor, North Carolina, Bertie County officials said. Twelve people were injured and taken to hospitals.

In St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland, the driver of a car died after a tree fell on the vehicle’s roof. The weather service reported at least three separate tornadoes occurred in the southern part of the state early Tuesday. Two were in St. Mary’s County, while the other was in Calvert County, the service said.

In New York, 60-year-old Mario Sileswas found dead inside a 2014 Dodge van “with trauma about the head and body,” a New York Police Department spokeswoman said.

In Delaware, an 83-year-old woman was found under a large branch in a pond near her home, Cpl. Jason Hatchell with Delaware State Police told CNN.

In Pennsylvania, the body of a 5-year-old Montgomery County girl with autism was found Wednesday morning after she had gone missing from her home at the height of the storm, according to Towamencin Township Police Chief Tim Dickinson.

Eliza Talal had last been seen Tuesday before she walked away from her home, which backs up to a creek, the chief said. “We believe based on the circumstances, that she left the house and somehow went into the water,” he added.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced one storm-related death in Lancaster County.

In Cecil County, Maryland, Isaias flooded a day care, prompting a teacher to carry her 25 students to safety, CNN affiliate WBAL reported.

“Our parking lot flooded,” Brittany Austin told the news station. “So, for me to get the children to the parents, who had to park as soon as they came in the parking lot, I had to sludge my way through a good 6 feet of water to get them out to the parents.”

Multiple streets were flooded Tuesday, the affiliate reported.