Weather Woes Whack West Orange: Power Outages, Roads, Schools

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Hundreds of homes in West Orange lost power during a frigid winter blast on Tuesday that continued into Wednesday, authorities said.

The winter storm also knocked down utility wires across West Orange, forcing local public safety officials to close several roads. Some were still closed as of Wednesday afternoon, according to town officials.

Public schools in West Orange were closed on Wednesday. Administrators wrote:

“Due to continued closure of major and secondary roads as well as low-hanging wires, bus transportation would be problematic and hazardous. For this reason, the West Orange Public Schools will have no choice but to close today, December 18, 2019. All after school activities are also cancelled.”

West Orange wasn’t alone in their weather woes; towns across Essex County reported issues with downed wires and fallen trees due to icy conditions on Tuesday.

West Orange officials released an initial alert on Tuesday night, writing that police and fire crews were dealing with a “high volume of weather-related issues.”

Road closures took place on Eagle Rock Avenue and Northfield Avenue. PSE&G’s outage map showed between 500 and 1,500 outages, officials stated.

A reporter with News 12 New Jersey posted the below video of an apparent transformer explosion on Eagle Rock Avenue.

West Orange officials released an update at 10:15 p.m., stating that several additional streets were closed: Crestmont Road, Prospect Avenue, Forest Hill Road, Seaman Road, Walker Road and Pleasant Valley Way.

More road closures soon followed, with low-hanging and downed wires seen on several secondary streets, officials stated at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

A house on Winding Way lost power when a tree smashed into it, officials said.

At 11 a.m., West Orange officials offered another update, writing that PSE&G’s outage map showed about 284 homes without power across the township, and about 1,031 across Essex County.

“All downed wires have been reported to PSE&G,” officials stated.

This is a developing story. Patch will update this article if more information becomes available.

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