Power Surge Damages Babylon Residents' Appliances

Battlling blazing temperatures for the last few weeks, some Babylon Village residents were shocked when a reported power surge blasted through many areas on Monday morning, damaging and even destroying televisions, refrigerators and even central air conditioning units.

The surge, the cause of which is still publicly unknown, zapped through areas of Babylon Village south of Railroad Avenue, including the Argyle Park and Frederick Shores areas, late Monday morning, according to residents.

Many reported hearing a large explosion-like noise at this time as power immediately cut out to their homes, in the process blowing out many electrical appliances and accessories.

“I was working in my garage on Monday morning when we heard a loud explosion nearby,” said Nick Giampietro, who lives in the area just east of Argyle Park. “The circuit breakers in my house tripped and we were totally without power for about an hour.”

Giampietro said his refrigerator, two televisions and a number of his cable boxes were damaged during the surge. Cablevision, he said, were happy to help during the problem and included a claim form.

“I have not yet been able to check everything but I’m sure there’s more we just didn’t find that is damaged,” he said.

Other residents told Patch.com they had similar problems inside their homes after the morning surge.

“Everything got brighter in the house and then there was a loud pop as all the lights and appliances shut off,” Jessica Robin told Patch. “At first I thought the air conditioner caused it, but then I saw my neighbors come outside to see what happened.”

Robin, however, turned out to be lucky in her home.

“We didn't lose any appliances that I can tell,” she said. “Some of our outlets in the kitchen don't work because of our breaker tripping, but that's it. We still have to fix the breaker. All the other rooms appear to be in working order.”

“We came home from work to find seven circuit breakers popped and wires disconnected inside the breaker box due to the power of the surge,” Tom Chivvis, who lives near Giampietro, told Patch. “That left one section of the house without power until we had an electrician fix the breaker box and inspect the entire house for further damage.”

He added he would be checking his electronics one-by-one to make sure everything survived.

“We lost our refrigerator, two TVs, a router and countless surge protectors. LIPA won't let us get anything new until we try to get everything fixed first,” Troy Smith wrote on our Facebook page.

Patricia Engle also wrote in that she lost her central air conditioner, stove, range hood, dishwasher and one television in her home near Argyle Park.

“I heard two pops and saw smoke come from oven,” she wrote. “We took off the back panel and there are scorch marks. Hopefully we can get the AC fixed before another heat wave comes.”

Other residents from nearby areas, including North Babylon, West Babylon and West Islip also saw the surge in their homes, but did not lose power or property.

LIPA does have a claim repayment system for paying back damaged goods in the event of a surge or physical crash, as was the case earlier this year when a LIPA truck rammed and totaled a Babylon Village couple’s car. Details, however, on how to apply for such claims against the utility were not available immediately.

LIPA released a statement to Patch.com regarding the power surge: "We are sensitive to those customers who may have experienced property damage within their homes. National Grid (LIPA’s service provider) is working to determine the cause of the incident. Once the investigation is complete we will address those customer’s claims appropriately."

LIPA is in the midsts of a transition to being taken over by utility company PSEG following their performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in October.