Atlantic City Electric Continues Restoration Efforts in Cape May County, Prepares for Another Storm

Nearly all power had been restored to Atlantic City Electric customers in Cape May County who were left without power due to Tuesday's storms as of midnight Wednesday, with the remaining outages expected to be resolved by Thursday afternoon.

About 500 customers remained in the dark as of midnight, according to the Atlantic City Electric Outage Map. At the height of Tuesday's storm, about 39,000 people were without power, according to Atlantic City Electric.

The electric company is also preparing for a storm set to strike the region Thursday morning and continuing into the evening. This storm could generate wind gusts up to 60 mph, lightning, hail and the possibility of a tornado, the electric company said.

In addition to internal crews who worked throughout the night to restore customers, Atlantic City Electric received overhead line contractors and crews from its sister utilities, Delmarva Power, Pepco and PECO 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.

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 throughatlanticcityelectric.com or through the company’s mobile app.

Also on Wednesday, the National Weather Service concluded an investigation as to whether a tornado was to blame for the 80 mph winds that wreaked havoc throughout the county, including Middle Township, Lower Township, Stone Harbor and the Wildwoods.

Investigators concluded that a microburst was to blame, rather than a tornado. A microburst is high winds that move horizontally and vertically.

A "modest" Tsunami also hit the region Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

A Tornado Warning had been in effect Tuesday afternoon, and Middle Township Police initially reported the possibility of numerous tornadoes in the area. The National Weather Service typically investigates the possibility of tornado activity when requested to do so.

The attached image is a Patch file photo