Updated Sept. 7, 2011, 2 p.m.: Tina Casey at the Union County Offices says the County OEM is checking with the Army Corps of Engineers about the status of the ground water pump near Franklin Street. Patch also has a call in to Union Township Engineer Philip Haderer. In addition, representatives of FEMA will be meeting with Union County residents tonight in Springfield at 100 Mountain Ave., Springfield Municipal Hall, from 5-7 p.m. and are creating mobile offices to make visits around the county. Little Franklin Street in the Vauxhall section of Union is so small that most folks in Union and …

There was no day off for Millburn residents trying to dry out and clean up on Labor Day, taking inventory of their losses and stock of what they have left. Homeowners spent the day shoveling, cutting away drywall, sweeping, bleaching moldy tchotchkes and trying to salvage years of memories on damp photographs. Donna Oliger’s basement had been filled with antiques and furniture that held sentimental value because much of it belong to her mother-in-law, who died recently. “We lost two generations of stuff,” she said. She did manage to clean the black gunk off her mother-in-law’s Stickley rocker…

Some Millburn and Short Hills residents need a lot of help right now and others are searching for ways to help. And people are at a loss as to where to go or what to do. Here at Patch, readers have been great about trying to answer questions of out-to-town residents wondering how badly their neighborhoods suffered during the storm. Others have helped by posting pictures and video of the flooding in their neighborhoods. Patch is working as fast as we can to get information to you, but we’d like to help you help each other with a forum for getting the word out. We thought we'd use this space to…

It's time to set those alarms again. All Millburn Schools are up and running and ready to go for the first day of school tomorrow. With Irene having come and gone in the last week and residents' attention being focused on cleaning up and getting electricity and water, lines were long Monday with last minute shoppers at Staples and other stores that sell school supplies. Nancy Dries, the communications director for the Millburn Public Schools sent an email to all school families and staff Monday afternoon, welcoming them back and letting them know the school district understands what they've …

In the last remaining area of Millburn Township without power, residents in the Fairfield neighborhood in Short Hills are getting creative. Since one side the street has power and the other side does not, several residents have run hundreds of feet of extension cords across the street to plug in and get what little power they can. At the Barach home, after 30 hours without power, they were able to plug their refrigerator up to the outlet of their neighbor’s house across the street, hoping not to lose all of the food in it. “Our neighbors are in Florida and they called and asked us how we were…

After touring two northern New Jersey towns ravaged by Hurricane Irene, President Barack Obama assured residents Sunday that the federal government will help them rebuild. "We are going to make sure we provide the resources needed," Obama said while touring Paterson, a city of roughly 150,000 that witnessed severe flooding during Irene because of its proximity to the Passaic River. "I want to make it very clear we are going to meet our federal obligations." Obama visited Paterson and Wayne for an hour-and-a-half total with a delegation that included Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sens. Frank …

Here is the latest information released Saturday morning by Lt. Peter Eakley of the Millburn Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management, posted here in its entirety: The following is the most up to date information as of 5 a.m.: JCPL reports that 189 customers in Millburn Township are still without power. Millburn Township continues to provide pressure on JCPL to finish restoration to all our residents, but continues to receives inaccurate data from JCPL officials. Millburn OEM will continue to report the most current information.    The following areas are without power. Lake …

New Jersey American Water on Saturday afternoon lifted the boil water advisory for all of its impacted customers in Essex and Union Counties, but said residents are still required to conserve water. That means not watering your lawns or washing your cars, as well as keeping showers short and generally conserving for the next 10 days, company officials said. "If customers return to normal water consumption patterns, it will put undue stress on the system and potentially impact our emergency efforts to restore stability," announced Richard Barnes, spokesman for New Jersey American Water on …

The Department of Environmental Protection expects a large volume of trash to be generated in areas affected by the recent flooding, which could result in disruptions to normal trash collection schedules. The DEP offers the following tips to help residents manage trash and expedite trash collection:  Place food waste, disposable diapers and other wet waste into double plastic bags for better storage if collection is delayed.  Add a capful of ammonia to reduce odors that could attract animals and other vermin. Secure the bags tightly and store in a cool place. Separate and store recyclable …

updated: 11:24 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. The following is the latest information released Saturday morning by Lt. Peter Eakley of the Millburn Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management, posted here in its entirety: 1) Millburn Township OEM met with representatives of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management, and the Essex County Sheriffs Office – Office of Emergency Management this morning and took a tour of the Township to inspect the damage by Hurricane Irene. FEMA stated that individual assistance (IA) and Small Business …

First the governor talked about how the state has made great strides in getting the Jersey Shore ready for Labor Day weekend, opened roads and enabled thousands to move out of shelters back home. "If you can afford to come down here this weekend, come, take a deep breath and enjoy the last beautiful weekend of summer and support the local businesses," he said. Then a television reporter told him his "Go Back to the Shore" message was way too subtle. "I've rarely been accused of being subtle," Christie said. And he knew a cue when it was handed to him. "So I guess you want me to say, 'Get the …

Updated, 1:51 p.m. As of Saturday morning 841 homes remained without power in Millburn and Short Hills, with 722 of those homes in Short Hills and 119 in Millburn, according to the JCP&L outage map that says it is updated at 8 a.m. By 1:46 p.m. that number was down to 728, with 634 of those in Short Hill and 94 in Millburn. Officials at JCP&L could not be reached for comment, but according to the company's website, "most of the remaining 26,000 Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) customers should be restored by Saturday, with small groups of customers in some of the areas that experienced …

Updated: 5:56 p.m., 10:45 p.m. updated Sept. 3, 10:30 a.m. to add information from Governor Christie. Millburn township officials are so frustrated by its dealings, or lack thereof, with Jersey Central Power & Light, that they plan to request a full state investigation into the company's "gross mismanagement and lack of communication and coordination efforts to restore power during Hurricane Irene." In a second letter sent on Friday by Mayor Sandy Haimoff to the President and CEO of the power company, Anthony Alexander, she vented and outlined the township's frustration with the company. …

Having no power and my son's new camera were the impetus for driving around for several hours on Sunday, capturing some dramatic images of Irene's wrath.   It was eerie driving around on the almost deserted streets.  So many roads were closed that it became a game, trying to navigate from point A to point B. We felt like survivors on the day after a nuclear attack - nothing looked the same.  My son got out of the car in the middle of a deserted and closed section of Route 10 to walk around and snap photos. We drove from Millburn to Livingston and East Hanover, to Florham Park, and then to …

Downtown Millburn is experiencing a rotten kind of déjà vu – rebuilding after the devastation of a hurricane.  Patch caught up with a few businesses to check on their progress and get their thoughts on what is in store (no pun intended) for the village.  Jhanna and Rudolf Shtainhorn of Jhanna Fine Jewelry know firsthand what it is like to have a business turned upside-down by Mother Nature; their store was severely damaged in 1999 by Hurricane Floyd.  The only reason they are in business today, they say, is because of the support of clients, friends and neighbors back in ’99.  This time …

Jersey Central Power and Light say criminal opportunists are taking advantage of flood conditions. The power company warns residents to be on the look out for thieves pulling down power lines to strip out copper wire for resale as scrap. In a release, JCP&L warned that stripping power lines is illegal and hampers reconstruction efforts. Residents are urged to contact police if they see wire theft.  JCP&L also warns residents to be on the lookout for teams of scam artists posing as JCP&L contractors. The con artists reportedly ask for money from homeowners for tree and branch removal and leave…

POWER UPDATES As of Thursday afternoon, households without power number 1,012 in Millburn and 1,695 in Short Hills, according to a power outage map provided by Jersey Central Power and Light. Direct from the website of FirstEnergy, parent company of JCP&L: "The majority of the remaining 61,000 customers should be restored by this weekend, with full restoration by early next week. At the peak, 670,000 customers were without power." Here's a link to video featuring JCP&L representatives in Morris Township. Star-Ledger had a report on JCP&L's "sluggish" response to Hurricane Irene. Link here. …

Editor's note: The following information was released by Lt. Peter Eakley, spokesman for the Millburn Police Department and the Millburn Office of Emergency Management. Patch will follow up with stories but wanted to provide the information to you quickly in its entirety here: The following is an update from the Township of Millburn Office of Emergency Management concerning the recovery efforts from Hurricane Irene:   1) Although many roads have been reopened, there are still many roads throughout the Township that remain closed.  We are working to have those roads reopened as fast as …

Dear Community Member, This is Update #2 (first one was yesterday) on the status of your schools and our plans for getting us past the dislocation that Hurricane Irene has caused. The schools are in roughly the same shape as yesterday.  Specifically, Electricity is fully on in four buildings (including the Ed Center), partially on in Hartshorn and Glenwood, and still not on at all in Deerfield or Wyoming.  As you probably know by now, there is a process the utility company has to follow in cases where trees have caused the outage--first they must cut power at the main line level, then remove …

FEMA Millburn Township officials released information Wednesday detailing ways residents can receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When New Jersey is declared a major disaster area, residents have three FEMA registration options in order to get relief and recovery help: 1. Apply online at the Disaster Assistance website. 2. Apply by smartphone at m.fema.gov 3. Apply by phone at (800) 621-3362 or for people with speaking disabilities or the hearing impaired, call TTY (800) 462-7585 More information can be found at township website. DISREGARD FLYER The following …