Township Officials Hold Off On Evacuations For Now

Berkeley Township residents can expect the brunt of the coming storm to start sometime Monday night and continue into Tuesday, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele said.

"We are looking at 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. to start with the rain and the wind," DiMichele said tonight.

DiMichele, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr., Township Council President James J. Byrnes and emergency management officials and representatives of fire departments and first aid companies met at the police department early this evening to decide the next course of action.

So far, no voluntary or mandatory evacuations have been planned, but that could change, Amato said.

"We want to give it another 24 hours, until we are really sure of where it's going to go," he said.

DiMichele said they also discussed plans with Ocean County emergency management officials this evening.

"We are going to follow the county's lead on this," she said.

Byrnes and Amato urged residents to store their robo-cans, lawn furniture, Halloween decorations and anything else that could turn into a projectile in high winds.

Come back to Berkeley Patch Saturday for more updates on the storm