Snow Puts Thousands in the Dark

updated: 4:45 p.m., 5:01 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Jersey Central Power & Light officials told Millburn Mayor Sandra Haimoff and other municipal representatives that because of the snow storm more 160,000 people are without power in Essex, Morris and Sussex counties and that number is going to go up before it goes down.

And rise it did. At 9:45 p.m. JCP&L announced on twitter that more than 250,000 of its customers are without power.

Trees have fallen on electrical wires and there have been fires, she said they told her, but because it's going to keep snowing until midnight, crews will have difficulty getting in and fixing it. JCP&L officials told the mayors (and tweeted) they have crews from Ohio and entral New Jersey in the area.

They could not give her a restoration time or tell her how many trucks were in Millburn or how many people in Millburn are without power, only that more would be without power by the end of the evening.

On Twitter, JCP&L tweeted that restoration could likely continue into the week.

"It's like Irene all over again," she said. "The people who are most anxious about this because it's getting dark, have no power and won't be able to get any information [because of that]."

At 10:30 p.m. 2,709 Short Hills residents were without power and 247 Millburn residents had no power, according to JCP&L's website.

At 2 p.m., the roads were treacherous, the crack of branches and falling trees could be heard all around as branches laden with fall leaves and heavy wet snow came to the ground.

Millburn police report that by 2 p.m., at least 20 trees had come down and power is out throughout town.

Haimoff, along with , advised residents to stay of the roads. "It's best if everyone just stays indoors," she said.

The Department of Public Works is working today, Haimoff said, and the town has hired outside contractors to cut trees off of power lines. In addition, police, firefighters and Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad are all working with additional personnel.

Millburn, as residents know, is still recovering from Irene, which happened two months ago, and right after an earthquake. Now there's an historic record-breaking snow in October.

"What a fluke storm this is," she said. "What's next? A volcano?"

Millburn Township will continue to be in contanct with JCP&L and hope for a better outcome this time than during and after Irene.

"This is the first post-Irene event, so we will wait and hope for better cooperation from the utility that gave the community so many difficulties during the tropical storm," said Office of Emergency Management Spokesman Lt. Peter Eakely of the Millburn Poice Department.

The following areas of Millburn and Short Hills have closed roads, downed trees and/or power outages, according to the police department:

1)  Route 124 shutdown at Kings - westbound, eastbound is open; trees down

2)  John F. Kennedy Parkway - shutdown one northbound lane, north of Parsonage Hill Road

 3)  Marion Way, one lane, wires down

 4)  Coniston Road, tree down

 5)  Glen Avenue Road Closed, in the area of 20 Glen Avenue

 6)  Clinton Place - Tree into a house

 7)  Both Bridges (Hobart Gap and Summit Avenue) over Rte 24 closed, traffic lights are out

 8)  Trees Down:

     Woodland Road / Elmwood Place

    Hillside Avenue

    Pine Terrace East / Short Hills Avenue

    Western Drive / Taylor Road

    Hickory Road

    Tablot Court

    Cedar Street / Myrtle Avenue

    Greenwood Drive / Haran Circle

    Puritan Road / Old Short Hills Road

 9)  Trees and Wires Down:

     South Terrace

    Jefferson Drive

    Old Short Hills Road / Hilltop Drive

    Wyoming Avenue

    Woodcrest Drive

    Tulip Lane

    Shirlawn Drive

    Pine Street

    Mohawk Drive

    Walnut Avenue

    Browning Road / Thackery Drive

    Martindale Road

    Bodwell Terrace

    White Oak Ridge Road

    Forest Drive South

    Hobart Avenue / South Terrace

    Troy Drive

    Silver Spring

    Ridgewood Road / Glen Avenue

    Cross Gates

 10) Wires only down

    Hartshorn Drive / Robert Drive

    Jefferson Drive

    Dale Drive

    Taylor Road

    Great Oak Drive

    Baltusrol Way

    Kilmer Drive

    Wellington Avenue

    Browning Road

    Passaic Avenue

    Wells Lane

    Rosedale Avenue

    Arden Place

    Slope Drive / Oxford Drive

    Joanna Way

To report a power outage, call JCP&L at 888-544-4877.

Patch will update you as we get information. Meanwhile, please let us know what is happening in your neighborhood by uploading pictures or telling us in comments.