Atlantic City Electric Working to Restore Power; NWS May Send Crews to Cape May County

Numerous possible tornadoes were reported in Cape May County, Middle Township Police said Tuesday afternoon.

A Tornado Warning was in effect for southwestern Cape May County earlier in the day. That warning expired at 4:15 p.m.

The National Weather Service was to decide whether to send damage assessment teams to the county's hardest hit areas, in Middle Township, Lower Township, Stone Harbor and the Wildwoods on Wednesday, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

There were also massive power outages throughout the county related to the storm. At the height of the storm, about 36,000 people lost power, according to Atlantic City Electric.

On Tuesday night, the electric company advised customers who were still without power that they may be without power for more than one day.

"Atlantic City Electric’s system in Cape May County was heavily damaged by high winds that brought down wires and damaged utility poles and transformers, the electric company said in a statement. "Crews will work diligently to repair the electric infrastructure damaged by the storm in order to provide power to the remaining customers without service."

The company said crews were still assessing damage, and would provide estimated restoration times once those assessments were complete.

"Crews will work throughout the night to restore service to as many customers as possible," Atlantic City Electric said. "In addition to internal crews, ACE has overhead line contractors and crews from its sister utilities available to assist in the restoration effort.

"Atlantic City Electric encourages customers to have an emergency kit, including a flashlight, battery-powered clock and radio, extra batteries, non-perishable food, manual can opener, bottled water and a list of important phone numbers."

Atlantic City Electric customers are asked to report any outages and to stay away from any downed wires.

To report outages and/or downed wires, call 1-800-833-7476, follow the prompts, and ask for a call back to confirm that power has been restored.

Outages also may be reported through atlanticcityelectric.com or through the company’s mobile app.

To track the number of outages, check out the Atlantic City Electric Outage Map.

In Middle Township, anyone needing to report downed wires, property damage or impassable roads were advised to call the township's non-emergency number at 609-463-1833, and to only call 9-1-1 in case of emergency.

In Lower Township, anyone needing to report downed wires, property damage or impassable roads were advised to call the township's non-emergency number at 609-886-2711, and to only call 9-1-1 in case of emergency.

Have you seen any evidence of tornado activity? Send photos of the storm to Anthony.Bellano@patch.com.