UPDATE: 546 Still Without Power in Garden City

A day-and-a-half of heavy rains and gusting winds left thousands without power in Nassau County, including nearly 4,000 LIPA customers in Garden City.

As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, 546 were still without in Garden City though restoration efforts were reportedly "in progress."

At the height of Hurricane Irene, approximately 500,000 customers were without power, according to LIPA officials.

LIPA officials said the storm caused the largest number of power outages in more than 20 years. It is anticipated that repairs and restoration may take several days to complete due to flooding and unsafe conditions in heavily damaged areas.

"LIPA continues to make progress in restoring service, but we do not know at this point when everyone will have power back on. It is very likely that many customers will be without power for several days. We understand your frustration and will communicate new information as soon as it becomes available," LIPA officials said.

All customer service centers were closed Monday so crews could focus solely on storm recovery efforts. 

LIPA officials are reporting customers may have experienced problems reaching the power authority by phone because Verizon, LIPA's phone carrier, experienced technical problems due to extraordinary call volume.

"LIPA continues to work with Verizon to resolve this issue and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused," LIPA officials said in a statement late Sunday.

Once winds died down mid-day Sunday more than 1,500 survey personnel began assessing damage. Hurricane force winds, which uprooted trees and took down power lines, caused the majority of the outages.

Restoration crews are using helicopters, vehicles and survey teams on-foot to assess major damage to the power authority's transmission and distribution lines, substations and other infrastructure, according to LIPA officials. Power is first being restored to nursing homes, fire stations, evacuation centers, hospitals and other "critical facilities."

The focus will then shift to transmission lines, high-voltage lines and any other jobs aimed at restoring power to the highest number of customers at one time.

To report an outage call 1800-490-0075. Track outages and restoration times through LIPA’s Storm Center at www.lipower.org/stormcenter. LIPA will also provide updated restoration information via social networking sites including Twitter (www.twitter.com/LIPAnews) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/efficiencylongisland).