Fourth Day Without Power for 2,500 in Toms River

The number is shrinking, but remain without power today, and power outages could continue into next week, said JCP&L.

Much of the power outage began as Hurricane Irene burst through Toms River on Saturday night through Sunday morning, meaning some of those customers are in their fourth day onward without power.

JCP&L is reporting 2,539 in Toms River are without power, out of 9,791 in Ocean County as of 9:16 a.m. today.

At 7:25 a.m. this morning, JCP&L had this to say:

“JCP&L is continuing to experience power outages due to the effects of Hurricane Irene. Crews are working around the clock to restore power to all the affected areas. We anticipate that the majority of our customers will be restored by the weekend with full restoration by early next week. Please treat all downed wires and damaged electrical equipment as live and dangerous. If you have not already reported your electric service as being out, please call 1-888-544-4877.”

Yesterday, a drooping power line over Lakehurst Road was one ongoing example of utility wires out of service.

Since Sunday, the wires have been hanging over the Route 527 road near . Yellow caution-police tape is tied around the drooping wire, with traffic police in the area. Portions of the side streets of Clement are closed.

Car traffic is shifted into the northbound lane and shoulder at that intersection at Lakehurst Road. Trucks are prohibited; they are too tall to drive under the wire.

It’s one of several ongoing work sites in Toms River as utility companies work to repair snapped wires and utility poles, or remove debris such as large trees hanging on them.

Tom Kelaher in a message to residents Monday said he spoke with JCP&L representatives that morning and received assurances that their crews are working “round the clock.”

“A number of their substations are under water,” Kelaher said. “They are waiting for water to subside.”

To report a JCP&L outage, call 1-888-544-4877. Click here for JCP&L's continually updated power outage map.