Power Restored to Most Neighborhoods, Clean-Up Continues

Power has been restored to many of the larger neighborhoods in the borough where dozens of homes had gone without since the storm took out trees and power lines this weekend.

Mike Kronyak, borough administrator, confirmed that power was restored between 8 and 10 p.m. Monday to the homes on Columbus Avenue near Woodland Drive, Coolidge Avenue by Longview and parts of Harrison and Roosevelt which had no power.

He believes there are still some other smaller areas around town that may still be without power and is making sure that all have been reported and on the system so PSE&G can dispatch their crews to these areas.

Clean up by the DPW continues as more crews were out Tuesday working to trim down tree branches and carry away limbs and branches from curbsides. Efforts have been ongoing since Sunday he said with the first priority being getting roads reopened followed by attending to areas that had immediate needs such as trees which had fallen on homes or blocked driveways.

In some cases the DPW can’t clear away tree branches if live wires are in the way and therefore PSE&G has to come in first to lift the wires.

Most roads have been reopened although a portion of Roosevelt remained closed off between the Boulevard and Summit Avenue while a DPW truck was removing away debris Tuesday afternoon.

Many of the borough parks had many trees damaged such as Veterans Memorial Park which as of Tuesday still had large broken limbs hanging down into the roadway. A lot of tree damage was seen in Woodland Park. Kronyak said the  entrance at Harrison Avenue was blocked off.

The Firemen’s 9/11 Memorial Park lost a lot of trees however he said there was no reported damage to any of the new light fixtures. Miers and Polifly Road Park were spared tree damage, he believes. The parks are on the list to be attended to Kronyak said but the roadways are the top priority right now.

By end of day Wednesday he expects to have a good idea of what can be accomplished by the end of the week.

Homeowners are still removing broken tree branches from their properties and putting them on the curbs Kronyak said and reminds residents that collection is ongoing and DPW will continue until everything is picked up. 

Kronyak said Monday that he will need to begin preliminary paper work for damages to this storm will need to begin. He had just finished filing the FEMA paperwork for the hurricane. He called 2011 a very rough year as on top of this unusual snowstorm and the Hurricane, the year started out with a very rough winter, all which fall in the same budget year.