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More Than 2,000 Customers Lose Power Around NYC After Rain and Snow

 Salt water corroding underground wires sparked the widespread outages, ConEd said.
Salt water corroding underground wires sparked the widespread outages, ConEd said.
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BROOKLYN — Nearly 2,300 customers in the city lost power — more than 1,000 of whom are in Brooklyn — after salt water from the overnight rain and snow corroded underground wires Wednesday morning, utility officials said. 

The Brooklyn customers were without power as of 11:30 a.m. due to 82 "manhole incidents," which refers to things like manhole fires and smoking manholes, a ConEd spokesman said.

► WHY ARE THERE SO MANY MANHOLE FIRES?

In the worst Brooklyn outage, 123 customers lost power after a manhole incident near 69th Street and 12th Avenue in Dyker Heights, the spokesman said.

ConEd officials expected to restore power to the affected areas as of 11 p.m., a spokesman said. Some 31 of Wednesday morning's manhole incidents were still active as of 11:30 a.m. and crews were still monitoring the others affecting customers, the spokesman said.

Additionally, 157 customers lost power in Crown Heights, 141 in Prospect Park and 116 near Borough Hall, according to the utility's outage map.

Outside Brooklyn, there were outages reported in Fordham in The Bronx with 163 powerless customers, 157 in Yorkville and 121 in Harlem, according to the map.

Officials said they hope to restore power to all those who were affected by Wednesday night, but a spokesman said more outages are possible as salt water continues to corrode underground wiring.

Check ConEd's outage map for up to date information.