More Atlantic City Electric Outages Reported From Tuesday's Storm Than From Superstorm Sandy

More Atlantic City Electric customers were left without power following Tuesday night’s storm that tore through South Jersey than were impacted by Superstorm Sandy, Atlantic City Electric officials said on Thursday.

At the peak, there were 280,000 Atlantic City Electric customers left without power. This number is higher than the 206,000 people who lost power in the 2012 derecho and the 220,000 people who lost power during Superstorm Sandy because transmission lines and substations were knocked offline, as opposed to damage being done directly to residents’ homes.

As of 4 p.m., there were still 120,000 customers without power. Atlantic City Electric customers could continue to expect full restoration by midnight on Sunday into Monday.

There were still about 43,000 customers in Camden County without power and 50,000 in Gloucester County without power.

On Thursday, Congressman Donald Norcross urged Gov. Chris Christie to issue a disaster declaration for those two counties that would allow the use of federal funds for disaster cleanup.

“As thousands of residents deal with the aftermath of Tuesday’s storm, federal assistance will go a long way in helping them get their lives back together,” Norcross said. “With the Governor’s declaration, we can move one step closer to unlocking federal resources to address the storm’s aftermath – which will allow our communities to move forward without having to stretch their budgets or burden taxpayers.”

The Camden County Freeholder Board also directed the Office of Emergency Management to prepare data for a disaster proclamation for the state to review.

“Our professionals are out in the field making a real time assessment of damages with the state police to justify the declaration,” Camden County Freeholder Michelle Gentek said. “This storm event was one of the worst in scope and severity for Camden County in modern era and was the catalyst for significant damage to homeowners and businesses.”

The Governor’s Office said professionals are on the scene assessing the situation.

“Board of Public Utilities President Robert Mroz has been touring the area today assessing the outages and restoration,” Brian Murray, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office said in an email. “Additionally, the state Office of Emergency Management is working in coordination with the county Offices of Emergency Management to monitor and assist in the region. Preliminary damage assessments are still being made, but the state Office of Emergency Management has been there from the beginning and remains on the scene, so the damage is being surveyed by the state professionals who have an expertise in such matters.”

In Atlantic County, there were still over 7,500 people without power; in Salem County, that number was 7,066; and in Cumberland County, there were about 462 people without power.

Cape May County still had about 56 outages, while about 93 Ocean County residents were still in the dark.

Mutual assistance crews from Ohio and New England have been called in to assist with the restoration, and 100 personnel from Jersey Central Power and Light are also assisting.

Initially, 20 transmission lines were knocked out. There are still 13 transmission lines that are inactive. A total of 20 substations were impacted. Only one is still inactive, but it is the one that suffered the most damage, in Wenonah.

As 4 p.m. Thursday, much of PSE&G’s service area has been restored, according to the electric company’s outage map, as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

About 3 percent of Burlington County customers, 2 percent of Camden County customers and2 percent of Gloucester County customers remained without power.

That translated to 4,881 customers in Burlington County; 3,189 customers in Camden County; and 628 in Gloucester County.

PSE&G initially projected full restoration by 4 p.m. Thursday.

Atlantic City Rail service remained suspended through Friday due to storm damage. NJ Transit’s bus service continues to cross-honor Atlantic City Rail passes and tickets, and provide service to stations between ACRL and 30th Street Station.

Customers can also use regular route bus service including Route #551 that operates from Philadelphia’s Greyhound terminal to Atlantic City, and Route # 554 that operates to all the stations from Lindenwold to Atlantic City. Customers should give themselves additional travel time.

The American Red Cross is supporting two reception centers in Gloucester County. The locations are:

· Gloucester County Complex, 1200 North Delsea Drive in Clayton; and

· Mt. Royal Firehouse, 5 Mantua Boulevard in Mt Royal.

Residents can visit for a cooling center, to get ice and water and to charge cell phones. EMS also will be there in case medical assistance may be needed.

The attached image was provided by the Camden County Freeholder Board