Rain, wind subside in NJ, thousands without power

💡JCP&L, PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric have made progress with restorations

💡Extra utility crews were brought in to help clearing trees and branches

💡If your basement floods stay away from appliances

The heavy rain has moved away and the winds are starting to subside allowing utility crews to assess power outages and begin restoration.

Progress was made in the early morning hours as over 87,000 customers were without power in the early hours of Wednesday. Over 60,000 JCP&L, PSE&G , Atlantic City Electric and Orange & Rockland and customers were still affected by outages as of 8:45 a.m.

The numbers will fluxuiate as power is taken offline temporarily during the restoration process.

• 27,942 JCP&L customers are without power mostly in mostly in Burlington (North Hanover), Hunterdon (Delaware Twp, Raritan Township and West Amwell), Monmouth (Colts Neck, Freehold Township, Freehold Borough, Manalapan, Marlboro and Millstone), Ocean (Lakewood and Jackson), Passaic (Wayne)
• 11,813 PSE&G customers mostly in Burlington, Camden (Haddonfield),  Pennsauken), Mercer (Princeton) and Somerset (Montgomery)
• 20,264 Atlantic City Electric customers mostly in Atlantic (Buena Vista, Hamilton, Mullica), Cumberland (Commercial, Upper Deerfield), Gloucester (Elk, Glassboro, Harrison, Mantua, Pitman) and Salem (Pittsgrove)
• Orange & Rockland: scattered outages throughout its service area

"The areas with elevation, the areas with lots of trees and the areas near the coast that took the strongest wind gusts our most problematic areas this morning," JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig told New Jersey 101.5.

Wind speeds have come down significantly, but gusts to 40 mph will be possible in the afternoon, according to NJ 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said.

"In the worst of those we may have to to ground buckets again. That's all about safety. That's all about protecting our workers while they're out there making sure everybody gets home to their families at the end of this," Hoenig said.

JCP&L was still assessing its outages and did not yet have an estimated time for restoration.

The utilities advised all outages should be reported. If you come upon a downed wire assume it is live and do not touch it.

Hoenig said the utility requested more than 850 additional personnel to supplement its own crews which includes approximately 600 line workers) and more than 200 additional support personnel such as forestry and hazard response.

"JCP&L personnel prioritize clearing hazards like downed power lines, trees and blocked roads to ensure public safety. Employees must also assess the damage to enable line crews to access outage sites and initiate safe repairs. The formal restoration process focuses on addressing widespread outages first, before tackling more isolated issues," Hoenig said.

Caution in flooded homes

In addition to additional crews being brought in the utility warned to stay away from the appliances in your basement that may suddenly be surrounded by water. The appliance may become charged and should not be touched.  Heaters and air conditioners should also be turned off if it can be done safely.

Other safety tips from PSE&G if your home flooded:

• Don’t go into basements with standing water, raw sewage or obvious electric hazards.
• Stay away from the breaker box in a flooded basement.
• Watch out for animals and snakes that may have been flooded out of their homes and are seeking shelter.

"If your appliances have been submerged in in water you need to have them inspected. You replace them first for safety purposes, but certainly have them expected inspected before you try to use them,' PSE&G spokeswoman Rebecca Mazzarella told New Jersey 101.5. "You may need to have our gas team out there to come out and do the inspection before your gas service can be restored."

Mazzarella said if you have not yet been flooded to unplug all of your electrical appliances and shut off the natural gas supply valve to any gas appliances.

"The valve is usually found on the gas line to the appliance. Do not attempt any further work until this has been done," Mazzarella said.

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