#Gov. Cuomo issues emergency declaration in NYC after Isaias

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday issued an emergency declaration for several New York counties, including all five boroughs, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias — and also ordered a probe of utility companies’ responses.

“We’re taking an all-hands-on-deck approach and activating every resource at our disposal to expedite communities’ recovery from the impacts of Tropical Storm Isaias,” said Cuomo in a statement, one day after Isaias battered with a force rarely seen since Superstorm Sandy.

All five boroughs were placed under a state of emergency, as were several others counties: Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Columbia, Ulster and Sullivan.

At one point, more than 920,000 power outages were reported statewide, most of which lingered into Wednesday, including over 86,000 outages in New York City as of 5:15 p.m.

Cuomo ordered the state Department of Public Service to probe utilities including Con Edison, charging shoddy preparations that left the companies flat-footed.

“We know that severe weather is our new reality and the reckless disregard by utility companies to adequately plan for Tropical Storm Isaias left tens of thousands of customers in the dark, literally and figuratively,” said Cuomo in a statement. “Their performance was unacceptable.”

Con Ed did not immediately return a request or comment.