Hurricane Sandy

Brick Barrier Island Residents May Gain More Access Soon

Mayor says he's just waiting for state approval

Brick hopes to allow its barrier island residents and property owners to be able to drive to their properties in their own vehicles "soon," but the township needs state approval first. "We hope it will be soon, we hope it's within days," said Mayor Stephen Acropolis, on a bus tour Thursday of many of the township's Sandy-ravaged waterfront and low-lying sections. "We're just waiting for some construction work to be cleared, for Route 35 to be opened and for approval from the state Department of Transportation." On Thursday morning, Acropolis, Police Chief Nils Bergquist, other police officers and the National Guard traveled by police-escorted bus with a limited number of media to tour the township's barrier island and other damaged areas …

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Hurricane Sandy

Despite Gov's Assurance, Thousands Still in the Dark

Christie said all power in NJ would be restored by now

  Despite assurances by Gov. Christie that the entire state would have power again by yesterday, there are thousands still in the dark in New Jersey, including 601 in just Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to the JCP&L outage map. As of 3:15 p.m. Monday, there are 441 outages in Monmouth and 160 in Ocean and about 3,100 outages among JCP&L customers in the 13 counties it serves, the map shows. In Morris County alone there are 739 JCP&L customers reporting outages. PSE&G has 278 outages on Monday afternoon, including 19 outages caused by Sandy and 259 caused by the nor'easter. Atlantic Electric has restored power to all customers who can safely be restored, said Frank Tedesco, company spokesman. He said there are 2,000 to 2,500 …

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Christie Had Set Sunday Deadline for Restoring Power State-wide

Goal set Nov. 8 for today

Hurricane Sandy

JCP&L to Continue Working on Outages "As Safety Permits"

Still 74,012 in the dark in Ocean and Monmouth counties

There are currently 28,176 JCP&L customers without power in Ocean County and 45,836 without power in Monmouth County, according to an update on the JCP&L website. Those numbers change constantly as crews continue to work on outages throughout the region. However, the nor'easter starting to move into the area may cause new outages as well as coastal flooding, according to the National Weather Service. JCP&L, in a prepared statement, says: "Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) has restored power to more than 900,000 of the 1.2 million JCP&L customers affected by Hurricane Sandy, marking five consecutive days where crews have restored at least 100,000 customers per day. While restoration continues, JCP&L is preparing for a Nor'easter that is …

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Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: Nearly 247,000 Without Power in Ocean and Monmouth

Outages to increase as Sandy barrels towards the Shore

Update, 6 p.m.: Outages have reached 126,739 in Ocean County and 120,000 in Monmouth County. --- There are nearly 24,000 reported power outages in Monmouth and Ocean counties as of early Monday afternoon, according to a Jersey Central Power & Light map. As of early Monday afternoon, there were 23,559 outages reported in Monmouth and Ocean. However, there was no way to immediately learn if some without power have not reported it yet because they may have no means of communication without electricity. But according to the information available, the highest number of outages in one town in the two counties was Middletown, with 6,869. Another town with a high number of reported outages was Berkeley in southern Ocean County with 1,848. …

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Hurricane Sandy

JCP&L Warns Power Could Be Out For 10 Days

Utility company says its hiring extra contractors, urges residents to be prepared

Residents should be prepared for power outages of up to 10 days from the anticipated impact of Hurricane Sandy, according to a release from the parent company of JCP&L. FirstEnergy Corp, which owns the local utility company along with several others on the East Coast, said in a release that the oncoming storm could wreak havoc with the electrical system and residents should be prepared to be without power for more than a week. The company is securing outside utility crews, electrical contractor and tree trimmers to assist a beefed up response crew and support workers to help restore power as soon as possible throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to the release. “Depending on the severity of the storm's impact on the …

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Hurricane Sandy

HURRICANE SANDY: JCP&L Says it Learned From Its Mistakes

Stresses storm may knock out power for 7-10 days

  Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) President Don Lynch says the company has learned from the mistakes it made from Hurricane Irene and is ready for Hurricane Sandy and the threat it poses to the state. The company took heat when Hurricane Irene left many New Jersey towns without power for days - and, in some cases, weeks. Many thought JCP&L's response was too slow. The biggest lesson learned is getting the information out to customers and municipalities as specifically, quickly and often as possible, Lynch said. The company wants its customers to know as much information as possible, he said. "Just know that Jersey Central will be working hard day and night - we've already started, should that storm hit shore here and cause outages …

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Power Outage Strikes West Dover, Route 37 Traffic Lights

Power outage reported just after 9 a.m. this morning

Just after 9 a.m. this morning, a power outage was reported in the area near Route 37 West and Mule Road in the township, disabling electricity in a number of residences and in the nearby traffic lights at the intersection there later in the morning. “The traffic lights there are out and officers are currently there directing traffic,” said Chief Michael Mastronardy of the Toms River Township Police Department. Jersey Central Power & Light, servicer of electricity to the affected region, said that electrical technicians were dispatched to the site of the power failure, and have been working to get power fully restored to the area. “4,700 customers were affected by this outage, and two-thirds of the affected homes were restored within 30 …

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Hurricane Irene

More Than 33K Without Power in Ocean

Widespread outages still exist in Brick, Forked River, Toms River, Point Boro

Toms River, Brick, Forked River and Point Pleasant Borough remain among the communities in Ocean County still suffering from widespread power outages. Jersey Central Power and Light was reporting an estimated 33,212 customers without power as of 11:50 a.m. Tuesday, with more than 20,000 centered in the aforementioned municipalities. While outages are affecting a wide swath of the county, many municipalities are largely back online three days after Hurricane Irene downed trees, power lines and sparked flooding throughout the region. For example, the utility is reporting seven customers offline in Barnegat, and 22 in Bay Head, while other municipalities have several hundred customers still in the dark.   JCP&L said crews are "working around …

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