UPDATED: Storm Hits West Orange; Wires Down, Temp. Shelter Opened

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange was among several Essex County towns hit hard by Wednesday’s storm and its heavy, wet snow, which left roads treacherous and wires down all over the township.

ABC New York reported that hundreds of vehicles were stranded on Route 280 near West Orange on Wednesday night. State police on snowmobiles helped to provide assistance to the motorists. (See video below)

West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi said late Wednesday night that the storm is expected to impact the community for several more days.

“This storm has created many challenges and the conditions are only worsening,” Parisi said.

According to Parisi:

• Garbage pickup for Thursday, March 8 was canceled
• All Jitney Service for Thursday, March 8 was canceled
• Town Hall was closed on Thursday, March 8
• West Orange Public Schools were closed on Thursday, March 8

On Thursday, the West Orange Office of Emergency Management opened a temporary shelter for residents at West Orange High School, 51 Conforti Ave. For more information, call 973-325-4000.

“This storm will impact this community for several more days as downed branches, trees and wires and the amount of snow have made clean up slow and difficult,” Parisi said. “We ask that all residents be patient over these next several days and take the time to check in on neighbors when possible. We thank you for understanding and remind you to be safe.”

On Wednesday, Parisi issued the following advisory:

“All downed branches or wires, along with any storm related problems or concerns can be reported to the township's "Snow Hotline" at 973-669-9669 or email snow@westorange.org. Downed branches will be not addressed until after the snow has been cleared and it may take time to have every downed wire addressed given the conditions. Please be patient.”

The mayor added:

“To allow the Department of Public Works to plow streets and for the safe passage of traffic, all residents parked on alternate side parking streets are asked to not move vehicles today. Leave vehicles in place. Keep them on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday parking side of the street through Sunday. Do not park on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday side through Sunday, March 11.”

As for parking and driving:

“Residents are asked to avoid parking on township streets, wherever possible, to allow for public works crews to clear roadways. Snow is expected to stop late this evening but clearing and removal will continue long after the snow stops and we ask all residents to remain patient come morning as road and travel conditions will still be impacted by this storm. The township strongly urges residents to remain indoors and off the roads for as long as possible.”

To report downed wires or power outages, call PSE&G’s Customer Service line at 1-800-436-PSEG. Residents can also report outages by logging into their PSE&G account online or by texting “OUT” to 4PSEG (47734).

Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page here.

West Orange wasn’t the only Essex County town hit hard by the storm. Flights were canceled in Newark, roads became impassable in Verona and Cedar Grove, car crashes were reported in Millburn, downed power lines were seen in Maplewood and Livingston and trees were down in Montclair. Check out the below article for more examples of storm damage and issues in Essex County.

• See related article: Essex County Sees Crashes, Outages, Bad Roads

PSE&G: 80,000 LOSE POWER

If you lost power during the storm, you weren’t the only one. PSE&G said that about 80,000 of its 2.2 million customers were without power as a result of yesterday’s storm.

According to PSE&G:

Working overnight and this morning, the utility has restored about 190,000 customers since the storm began.

• Heavy, wet snow brought down large trees, branches and wires across PSE&G’s service territory. Electric service crews worked through the night and will continue to work in difficult conditions to restore outages as safely and as quickly as possible.
• The restoration process will likely take several days given the damage from falling trees that will need to be cleared. The utility is mobilizing additional employees to help with damage assessment so that it can better determine restoration times. We ask our customers to be patient as we deal with these difficult conditions and work to safely restore power.
• PSE&G’s 16 walk-in customer service centers are expected to open at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
• Downed wires should always be considered “live.” Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with.
• To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, do not run any gasoline powered engine, including generators and snow blowers, in a garage or any other enclosed space. Clear snow from dryer and hot water heater vents.
• PSE&G encourages customers to report downed wires and power outages by logging in to My Account on www.pseg.com, texting the word “OUT” to 4PSEG, or calling PSE&G’s Customer Service line at 1-800-436-PSEG.
• The utility offers customers a number of ways to stay in touch and informed before, during and after a storm. These tools can be found at PSE&G’s mobile-friendly website www.pseg.com in the “Storm Center.” Updated every 15 minutes, PSE&G’s mobile-friendly “Outage Map” displays the location and status of power outages.

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File Photo: Eric Kiefer