Police: 45 Percent of Community Remains Without Power

The Halloween weekend snowstorm that knocked out power to more than half a million New Jersey homes continues to cause headaches for residents and township personnel alike. Police this morning estimated that approximately 45 percent of Verona residents remain without power 48 hours after the storm hit.

Verona Police Captain Mitchell Stern says in the days since the storm, the department has seen a 500 percent uptick in the number of calls for assistance.

"Our first call for service was a storm-related down tree at 12:18 p.m. on Oct. 30. As of 7:45 a.m. Tuesday we've responded to 637 calls for assistance and written 99 incident reports and six accident reports. On a normal day we respond to approximately 42 dispatches. During the storm we were averaging 212 calls per day," he said.

Stern said emergency management officials have met regularly and spoken constantly throughout the storm's aftermath, and are taking things in priority order, "Life and safety first, convenience next," he said.

Parts of F.N. Brown Elementary School are back on the grid, as well as portions of Grove Avenue from F.N. Brown north toward Cedar Grove. However, the south side of town, from Fairview Avenue to the Peckman River, remains without power. PSE&G has said they are working toward the state's goal of returning electricity to 95 percent of New Jersey customers by Thursday night.

Stern said the Verona Fire Department, Verona Rescue Squad and Verona Public Works have been instrumental to insuring the safety of residents, singling out Verona Public Works Director Chuck Molinaro and his crew, who Stern said "Are doing unbelievable stuf with very limited resources."

The VPW has worked tirelessly over the past 48 hours keeping the roads clear and removing trees from the roadway. Despite much progress, additional falling trees have created setbacks for the clean-up effort.

Residents can sign up for the new Nixle alert system, which Stern says is superior to the email-only system previously in place. To sign up for text message alerts from the Verona Police Department, visit nixle.com, or text your zip code to 888777 to be signed up automatically.