Poll: Where Are You Spending the Power Outage?

As power outages in Chatham pass the 48-hour mark, we wonder how many Chatham families remain in town and how many found alternative arrangements, such as or with friends or family who have power.

The sun sets just before 6 p.m. each night this week, leaving kids and adults without a light source to read or play by. announced schools will be closed again Tuesday due to continued power outages and danger from downed wires and falling tree branches. have been postponed to Friday. Temperatures reach near-freezing at night and less than 60 degrees during the day.

Karen Percoco took her children, Joey, 11, and Julian, 8, took solace at Monday, along with many families from the Chathams, Madison, Livingston and other surrounding municipalities. "We were hit hard during the hurricane. We lost power for a week then," Karen said.

The library offered computers for kids to complete homework assignments and offered heat and power sources.

Carson Storm, Ryan Storm and John Swift spent Monday afternoon sledding and snowboarding at Washington Avenue School. They packed a makeshift ramp with snow in an effort to become airborne, which Carson achieved for a fraction of a second, to the delight of the other boys.

By the looks of Main Street traffic heading toward Route 24, though, many residents found it more prudent to seek greener pastures (and functioning heat and electricity) outside of town. Traffic was backed up throughout downtown, and at times all the way to Division Avenue.

Is it worth staying in Chatham on the chance your power will come back on? Or have you found it more convenient to find a hotel room? Have you called your friends and family to see if they have power and space for you?