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Toms River Digs Out After Blizzard; Show Us Your Snow Photos
Officials are reminding residents to clear areas around fire hydrants to assist first responders in case of an emergency.
TOMS RIVER, NJ — A day after a blizzard dropped more than a foot of snow on Toms River, residents are digging out and trying to stay warm amid dangerously cold temperatures.
The township received 14.5 inches of snow on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service's Mount Holly office. That's less than the 18 inches that fell in Brick to the north and Bayville to the south, which tied for the most snowfall in the state.
As you shovel out Friday, Toms River officials are urging residents to not shovel snow back into the street and to make sure they dig out fire hydrants.
Find out what's happening in Toms Riverfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The snowfall kept plow crews busy late into the wee hours on Friday, but at about 10 p.m. on Thursday Toms River officials said crews had made significant enough progress that they were able to resume garbage and recycling collection on Friday — something officials initially said would not happen.
The shifting announcements and the drifting snow resulted in some residents missing the collections that happened Friday — pickups that already had been delayed because of Monday's New Year's Day holiday and Thursday's snow day.
Find out what's happening in Toms Riverfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Acknowledging the chaos created by both the holiday and the blizzard, Toms River officials noted collections are two days behind schedule.
"Public Works will resume collections tomorrow, Friday, January 5th, starting with Wednesday’s routes. Trash and recycling will also be collected on Saturday, January 6th. Residents with normally scheduled collections that fall on Wednesday through Friday are being asked to place their containers curbside and leave them out until they are collected by Township crews," the notice Thursday night said.
It was not immediately clear what residents who missed the Friday morning collection should do, but if you haven't put your cans out, it might be worth it in case the township makes a second pass. Patch is seeking clarification from township officials and will update as the information becomes available.
In the meantime, share your snow photos with us. You can email them to me at karen.wall@patch.com and we'll share them in a gallery later.
Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff
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