More than 25,000 power customers in Erie, Chautauqua counties without electricity

Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph are expected, the National Weather Service said.

“Winds will be out of the southeast, instead of the normal southwest wind direction, which is expected to cause greater than normal tree damage. Residents and motorists should be aware of the risk of downed trees and power lines,” the County Executive’s Office said in a news release.

Buffalo Public Schools announced the cancellation of all after-school activities on Tuesday. 

As of 2:30 p.m., more than 12,500 New York State Electric and Gas customers were without power in Erie County. There were 1,117 NYSEG customers in Chautauqua County without power, according to the utility.

More than 2,600 of the NYSEG customers who lost power were in Hamburg, while nearly 2,240 were in Orchard Park.

Almost 2,400 were in Boston, 2,240 in Elma and about 400 in West Seneca.

More than 9,760 National Grid customers in Chautauqua County were without power as of 2:30 p.m. Around 2,100 National Grid customers did not have power in Erie County.

As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, there were about 7,500 customers experiencing outages across the two counties.

In terms of travel restrictions, a ban on empty trucks, tractor-trailers and tandem trucks on some area highways went into effect at 10 a.m.

The restrictions, which were updated Tuesday afternoon, cover: Buffalo Skyway (Route 5); Route 219; Route 400; I-290; Kensington Expressway (Route 33); I-86 in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties; I-90 (New York State Thruway) between Exit 36 (I-81 in Syracuse) and the Pennsylvania line; I-190 from I-90 to the Route 62 exit in Niagara Falls; and I-990.

The Erie County travel advisory went into effect at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Chautauqua County has reported extensive damage along the Lake Erie shoreline between Westfield and Hanover, the weather service posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A 74 mph southeast wind gust has been reported at 11:25 a.m. in Dunkirk.