Salamanca Mayor Praises Community, National Grid After Prolonged Outage Leaves Thousands In Dark


SALAMANCA – Residents here are finally getting their power back after a powerful snow storm dumped heavy, wet snow on power lines, leaving the entire city without power at one point. 
“It was what it is and we will be more than happy to get power and heat,” said Salamanca Mayor Michael Smith.
The Mayor praised the work of National Grid, who has been working on restoration all day long.
“I think they are outstanding,” said Smith. ” We’re ecstatic they’re here, thank God.”
As of 11:45 pm on Friday, Smith said he was one of the unlucky ones without power or heat.
“There are 55 people sheltered at the high school,” Smith said. “The Allegany Community Center and the Seneca Nation hosted a shelter as well.”
We left a message for a National Grid media representative to contact us for this story. As of 12:20 am Saturday we had not heard anything back.
The energy has an after hours media line to get in touch with a spokesperson after business hours. There is no estimated time on a return call.