Power Coming, Berkeley Residents
Repair crews seen in several areas Sunday evening; sanitation crews, too
As the sunlight dwindled on Sunday, power crews worked to restore power on Long Branch Avenue in Bayville.
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Berkeley residents who are still waiting for power a week after Hurricane Sandy hit, take heart: crews are working to give it to you.
Repair crews were seen at several spots around town late Sunday afternoon, as the day turned to dusk, working alone or in pairs to restore service.
Berkeley Mayor Carmen Amato said the crews worked through the night Sunday night to restore service. About 7,500 homes remained without power as of 7:30 a.m., Amato said.
JCP&L has said the work is tedious and time-consuming due to the number of downed trees and utility poles. By Sunday afternoon, broken utility poles had been replaced in several spots, with repair work on the wires needing to be done.
"JCP&L is doing an amazing job," Berkeley Township Council President James Byrnes said at Saturday's emergency council meeting. "You can't just turn the lights back on" like flipping a switch, he said.
Residents who continue to be without power should continue to call 1-800-LIGHTSS to ensure their outage was reported.
"We will continue to press JCP&L," Amato said. "In the interim, water and ice are still available for residents, and shelters/warming stations will remain open at Central Regional High School and Silver Ridge Park West."
Power crews aren't the only ones working extra hours. Township public works crews are working 16-hour days as well, picking up debris that has been pulled from homes as the cleanup from Sandy continues.
Mark Vannella, supervisor of solid waste/recycling, on Saturday said the public works department had removed 72 loads of debris by that morning and was working on removing debris that has been put at the curb in Berkeley Shores.
It's not a fast process, he said, because it doesn't take long to fill up one truck. "A couple of houses and it's full," he said, because of the amount of goods that residents have had to throw out.
The Ocean County landfill was remaining open through the weekend, he said, which helped, as they could get rid of the trash more quickly.
Residents who wish to take bulk items to the township's recycling yard can do so. It will be open around the clock, he said.The only thing they cannot accept is hazardous materials, such as gasoline, he said.
Residents who lost their robocans in the storm can put trash in backs and leave it at the curb until new cans become available, Vannella said. "We will pick it up."
Trash collection was expected to resume this week, he said.
Everyone is working hard to get things back to normal, Byrnes said.
"Please just be patient," he said.
Natty Bumppo
5:38 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Sadly, Mayor Amato can not be found and has been reported to be staying with relatives up north who DO HAVE power and heat! Recall the bum!
brokeninbayville
8:58 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
I guess you are not at the Rec Center where Amato has been working.
Natty Bumppo
5:39 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Press releases by others mentioning his name won't cut it!
Lori
5:54 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Mayor Amato was with me almost the entire day friday at the berkeley rec building handing out free water and bags of ice, along with alot of other volunteers, where were you Dumppo O I mean Bumppo, Can we please just get through this without the politics!
Natty Bumppo
7:04 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Lori, we are sooooo glad to see the Mayor made it down Friday from up north from his relatives warm and toasty home. I hope he didn;t hit traffic and had enough gas to make the round trip back afterwards without sitting on any long lines. At least The mayor made an attempt to join his fellow citizens in their time of need. Then after your photo op, he drove back north. You can keep your ice and water since we need real answers and real leadership not photo ops.
Leaders can't lead up north or putting their names into press releases.
John M
7:59 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Maybe I've missed it but it would be nice if JCPL would provide information regarding restoration timelines based on specific areas. General numbers for an entire town does no good to set expectations. I was excited to watch main lines get repaired on Station Rd on Thursday and by doing so, power was restored all the way back to RT 9 including the BP station, library etc. What I don't get was they didn't repair the wires to complete the circuit to Pinewald and we're still in the dark. When the crew was asked why, they said that would be done by another crew. I'm sure I'm over simplifying things but I must have missed something because the repair seemed so obvious.
Jim
8:22 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
JCP&L where are you? How do we become important enough to get some action. Who can give me some usable info? I no JCP&L can't give me the answer , the gov can't do, can't find it in the paper, Internet is know help. Does anyone have an answer?
John M
8:25 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
That's all we ask for, a little information.
Deb
8:28 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Can someone please tell me why the lights were on at Forest Hills soccer field about one hour ago, when a few short blocks away residents are still without power?
John M
8:54 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
What does the lights being on at Forest Hills have to do with people not having power? It doesn't suck the power out of their house.
Deb
8:56 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Just a little insensitive to see power on where it is not needed....
John M
9:00 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
The kids were playing soccer and the lights were needed for that. Don't you think we need to try and have a sense of normalcy and at least allow our kids to have some fun? They have the rest of their lives to worry ... Leave that to the adults.
Deb
9:08 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Just wondering why JCP&L can't restore power where really needed...
John M
9:12 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
And on that we agree, or at least give us some idea as to when. Let's try and protect our children as long as we can and if playing soccer or baseball does that, and its not at the cost of someone else getting attention or service, then I say lets do it.