Powerful Storms Knock Out Power to Thousands in Binghamton Area

Several thousand Broome County NYSEG customers, including Walmart and other big retailers in Vestal, lost electric service in the aftermath of strong thunderstorms.

The powerful storms raced across the Binghamton area late Wednesday afternoon. Heavy rain flooded many Triple Cities streets. Large hail pelted many parts of the region.

Rush-hour traffic was snarled along the Vestal Parkway from the Binghamton city line to the Four Corners area as traffic signals stopped operating. While some crashes occurred during and after the storms, there no serious injuries were immediately reported.

NYSEG early Wednesday evening reported about 4,200 customers across Broome County were still without power. The biggest problem spot for the utility was in Vestal with more than 3,700 customers in the town without electric service.

More than 300 customers in the town of Union also were reported without power. Outages also continued in the towns of Binghamton, Fenton, Colesville and Barker.

Several dozen people were shopping in the Walmart store on the Vestal Parkway when the lights went out around 4 p.m. Workers quickly moved shoppers toward the front of the store. Backup power supplied emergency lighting and allowed customers to pay for their purchases before being ushered out of the store.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com.

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