Halloween in Bloomfield Canceled, Schools Closed Wednesday

"Frankenstorm" has canceled Halloween.

Bloomfield's celebration of the ghoulish holiday Wednesday is canceled until further notice, Mayor Raymond McCarthy announced Tuesday.

The decision hardly comes as a surprise in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which wreaked havoc in town and left behind a mess of dangling power lines and dangerous broken tree limbs.

"There are just too many trees down, too many broken branches, there are still wires hanging around, you don't know what's hot or what's not hot," said the mayor of canceling the holiday.

He said the township will coordinate with schools to postpone Halloween at a later date.

Bloomfield schools are closed Wednesday, with seven of 11 with either no power or partial power, McCarthy said. Schools may remain closed all week, given circumstances.

Earlier Tuesday, 40 percent of the town was estimated to be without electricity, according to Tom Pelaia, deputy coordinator of the town's Office of Emergency Management. PSE&G crews worked all day to try to restore power, though the company's priority has been on Newark, which is experiencing power outages covering 95 percent of the city.

"PSEG is just inundated," said the mayor. "They're trying to do as much as they can."

With plenty of trees left to cut down in order to get to snapped wires, officials will conduct a complete assessment of damage in the town on Wednesday.

Bloomfield town hall, as well as the OEM center, will be open Wednesday.

Garbage and recycling pickup will resume Thursday. Residents are encouraged to  drop off paper and recycling at the Department of Public Works on Grove Street Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. DPW will also accept leaf collections in biodegradable bags.

Click here to see photos of Hurricane Sandy destruction throughout town.