Neighbors in Hyde Park and other parts of rural Dutchess and Ulster counties were among the approximately 40,000 Central Hudson customers without power at lunchtime on Thursday.

By Thursday evening, the total number of customers in the dark was fluctuating at around 12,000. Some customers said they had been experiencing "on-again, off-again" service, as trees continued to fall throughout the day due to the heavy snow.

A spokesperson with Central Hudson confirmed about 1,500 outages near downtown Poughkeepsie and in other towns and cities, but said about 75 percent of the outages and damage were reported from rural Dutchess and Ulster counties. Central Hudson said it had received more than 600 reports of damage in those areas.

The Newburgh area, where residents are mainly Central Hudson customers, had nearly 4,000 reported outages by midday Thursday, and about 2,000 by 7 p.m. Thursday.

Most mutual aid workers, who were brought to the area from out of town, have stayed in the area to help Central Hudson's field force of 560 workers respond to the latest round of snow.