Mass Power Outages Cause NJ School Closures, Shelters In Place

More than 50,000 people were still without power across New Jersey at mid-day Friday as schools altered their schedules to deal with many dark classrooms (see below). At least one shopping mall was in the dark, too.

JCP&L and PSEG officials said transformer fires overnight in Woodbridge, Mountainside and on Route 22 in Union County, as well as a substation issue, were possibly the causes of the outages.

Road salt reportedly was one culprit, causing damage to PSEG's switching stations, according to company officials. The rain and condensation, mixing with residual salt on roadways and walkways, compromised equipment.

The power companies said they were working to fix the problems, and expected to have them resolved by mid-afternoon. Heavy rain apparently was impacting their work, and more was expected. Read more: Stormy Weekend, More Winter Weather Expected In NJ

Menlo Park Mall in Edison, home to a regional Apple store, apparently was in the dark on Friday. Read more: Menlo Park Mall Closed Due To Power Outage

Power company problems were also happening at Newark Liberty International Airport:

"We are in contact will all schools and all children are safe," according to Cranford police. "No need to go to the schools."

Please let us know in the comment section if your school's schedule changed.

Lodi also said it had a delayed opening until 9:30 a.m. because the power was out.

"There are widespread power outages being reported throughout the city and surrounding towns," said Maryann Capursi, a Passaic School Board commissioner. "Our students are safe in their classrooms, and instruction is continuing. The buildings are on a modified lockdown to ensure their safety. We are in contact with the city and PSEG, and will provide updates when we have more information."

In Newark, Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose reported that a number of Newark schools and neighborhoods have reported power outages due to today’s heavy rainfall.

The list of schools experiencing outages include:

• Central High School (which has declared an early dismissal)
• Cleveland Elementary
• Avon Ave. Elementary
• Camden Middle Elementary

The following schools in the North Ward have reported some power issues, but are not currently experiencing full outages:

• Barringer High School
• McKinley Elementary
• Brank Brook Elementary

Members of the Newark Police Division will be manning traffic control points in the affected areas.

Authorities said many streets may be flooded because of the rainstorm and should be avoided. Because motorists can become stranded by driving through flooded streets and high water, drivers are asked to avoid these locations and to use alternative routes.

Many of the outages were in Union County, meanwhile, where more than 20,000 customers of JCP&L and PSEG were apparently in the dark. Read more here...

In Morris County, more than 15,000 residents were without power at one point, with 20 of the county's 39 towns impacted. Read more here...

At 11:45 a.m., many counties were still reporting outages. Here were PSEG's totals:

Here were JCP&L's totals:

Here were Atlantic Electric's totals:

Patch photo