Dayton Should Expect Outages

DAYTON – The Columbia County Emergency Management Department issued a power outage alert to Dayton-area residents for Tuesday and Thursday this week.

Public information officer Dian McClurg said Columbia REA’s work on the replacement of a electrical substation may interrupt power service to Dayton residents between 11 am and 4 pm on Tuesday and very early on Thursday morning between midnight and 5 am.

“This information may be critical to people relying of life-support devices,” said McClurg, whose agency’s announcement was also designed to ward off a flood of calls to the 911 emergency response center from residents reporting the outage.

The final phase of Columbia REA’s planned work requires the utility to switch power to the new substation, which will cause intermittent power outages, McClurg said.

“People who rely on medical equipment need to be extra prepared,” she said about residents who use such devices as respirators or ventilators. “Their emergency preparedness kit should include a list of places to go if necessary until power is restored; additional oxygen tanks; and if possible, a backup generator as an alternative power source.”

For more information, visit www.columbico.com