Bronx residents find ways to cope with heat during day-long power outage
WEST FARMS, Bronx (WABC) -- Some residents in the Bronx were forced to cope with the miserable heat, without air conditioning for most of the day on Tuesday.
When it's 96 degrees and humid, you need a method to stay cool.
"I've kept on the shower just to keep cool in the house," resident Barbara Roman said. "With the fans. But then the fans and everything turned off in the house. Refrigerator, deep freezer, everything."
First, residents lost partial power overnight after hearing explosions under the manholes in the streets.
By morning, power was out completely to nearly 500 households in several apartment buildings in the West Farms section.
Neighbors did what they could outside, enjoying an open hydrant, a cold treat or a cat nap in the muggy heat. They also looked out for each other.
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Joel Carrasquillo was worried about his elderly mom.
"I'm here concerned about her, her health, y'know, 80, heat stroke. I'm about to get her some ice," he said.
Con Edison was giving out dry ice to keep food from spoiling in the fridge. Anyone who had a generator put it to use to keep the AC on.
One bodega didn't have one, and with candles lighting the shelve, owner Ricardo Castillo just waited patiently in the dark hoping to not lose a whole day of business with no cold drinks for sale.
Mother Nature helped cool things off with a thunderstorm, and Con Ed crews, who had already worked all day, kept going all evening in even hotter spaces underground.
They're finally getting the power back on gradually.
Residents are still being asked to conserve energy but have most of their power back and should be getting back to full power soon, as crews continue their work Tuesday night.
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