According to Verona Police Captain Mitchell Stern, power has notably been restored to East and West Lincoln streets and  the northern end of Grove Avenue, past F.N. Brown elementary school. The southern end of the F.N. Brown district is still without power, as are other areas of town. But Stern said that, according to information he had been given by PSE&G, 95% of Verona should be back on line by Thursday. (No word yet on the power situation at Verona’s schools, but we’re checking.)

Users of MyVeronaNJ.com’s Facebook and Twitter pages are confirming that power has been restored to many areas.  Wayland Drive in the Brookdale section, Willow Terrace (Laning) and Cypress Avenue (F.N. Brown) and Fairview Avenue past Verona High School. But lower Hillside Avenue and Franklin Street on the west side of the Peckman River are still out.

Since 12:18 p.m. on Saturday, when the VPD got its first storm-related call, it has responded to 637 calls for assistance and written up 99 incidents, including six accident reports. Stern said the call volume is a 500% increase from his department’s normal rate. Stern did not yet have statistics on calls to the Verona Fire Department and Rescue Squad. UPDATE: The Fire Department has responded to 45 incidents and the Rescue Squad 17.

The police meet once a day with Verona’s Emergency Management and Public Works Departments and emergency service volunteers, “and we exchange hundreds of messages a day,” said Stern.

A busted street light on Cumberland

“I cannot say enough about Chuck Molinaro and his crew, and the police, fire and Rescue Squad teams” Stern said of the Public Works chief and the town’s first responders. “They are doing unbelievable stuff with limited resources.”

Stern said that, in an effort to improve communication with the public, the VPD has implemented a new text message alert service called Nixle. The service, which the department began testing last year, sends alerts to cell phones. The Verona Police Department hopes this will broaden its current alert system, which only goes to e-mail. “I know passing information to the public is important,” said Stern.

You can sign up for Nixle alerts here. The service is free but the standard text message rates imposed by your cell carrier will apply. You can register for e-mail alerts through the VPD’s home page.

Shrubs will slowly unstick themselves as the snow melts. That means slowly, by themselves. Do not try to help by prying, picking, pushing or pulling them. The shrub does not need your help, especially when your “help” is going to split the limb or snap it in half.

I know it’s hard, and you will make some mistakes. You will say, “oh this one is almost loose. I’ll be gentle, really I will.” Not gentle enough were you? It broke didn’t it? It bled sap for weeks, making you feel its quiet reproach every time you saw it.

And since it is probably not going to be safe for dog walking, we’ll refer you back to some tips that Verona-based dog trainers Chris and Natasha Burns sent during Hurricane Irene:

Play Biscuit Ball:
Cut a hole in a plastic toy ball. stuff with carrots, treats, or your dog’s food (must be something the dog really likes). Place the ball (filled with treats) on the floor with one treat set up to fall off or out of the ball when the dog touches it with his/her nose. This teaches them that when they touch the ball a treat will fall out. You can keep a few loose treats in your hand and squat down to their level right next to them and the ball. Each time the dog touches the ball with his/her nose, drop a treat near the ball so it reinforces their touching the ball behavior. Do this in a sneaky manner so they don’t think the treat is coming from you, rather it comes from the ball. Once the dog begins “rolling” the ball around with his/her head/nose/paw to obtain a treat, you’ve trained them how to play biscuit ball!

 

 

We are going to have a lot to clean up when this is all over.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m.: Verona Police say the Verona Community Center ballroom has been opened as an emergency center if you are without power.

[Show as slideshow]

Week 1: Hillcrest Farms
Week 2: Town Hall
Week 3: Towne Scoop
Week 4: Famous Ray’s
Week 5: Jack’s Cafe
Week 6: The Old Freight Shed
Week 7: F.N. Brown School
Week 8: 80 Pompton Avenue
Week 9: Bunky’s Automotive
Week 10: Centennial Field
Week 11: Quality Car Care
Week 12: The Flags
Week 13: Firehouse #2
Week 14: Brookdale Avenue School
Week 15: Verona Sports
Week 16: The Recycling Center
Week 17: Hobcaw
Week 18: The Library
Week 19: Adrenaline Fitness
Week 20: The Police Station
Week 21: Miele’s
Week 22: Mardi Gras
Week 23: Classic Look Salon
Week 24: Town Signs
Week 25: Charles Bahr & Sons
Week 26: Snowpiles
Week 27: The Richfield Regency
Week 28: Frank Anthony’s
Week 29: Four Paws Stay & Play
Week 30: The New Subway
Week 31: Canine Designs
Week 32: F.N. Brown School
Week 33: Rocktec Music
Week 34: The Former Brunner Auto Dealership
Week 35: The Hilltop Water Tank
Week 36: Gary Farishian’s office
Week 37: Sonny’s On The Avenue
Week 38: West Essex Building Supply
Week 39: Denim & Daisies

Now, do you have an idea about where we are this week?

Using a roof rake, Kevin Toscano can easily clear snow while staying safely on the ground.

You probably don’t want to hear this right now, but a $40 tool could have saved your roof and gutters from hundreds of dollars of snow damage.

It’s called a roof rake and, judging by the look of the roofs on Verona houses this winter, not many of us have one. But with more snow on the way (we’ll pause now to allow you time to cry), we took a few minutes to talk with roofer Kevin Toscano about how to use a roof rake.

A roof rake does just what it’s name implies: It rakes the snow off your roof. By clearing the first few feet of snow from the edges of your roof, you lower your chances of having an ice dam, that is, a build-up of ice that will send snow melt under your shingles and into your house, doing all the damage that water can do to a structure. “Clear the snow from the first three feet up from the gutter”, says Toscano, “which will keep an ice dam from forming.”

With a roof rake, you can do that without climbing a ladder or going out onto the roof, both of which are dangerous in any weather. (See the poor schmoe in the video below for illustration.) Roof rakes come with extension poles that make it easy to reach the necessary roof space of the average Verona home while staying safely on the ground.

The rake won’t, however, rake out ice. “If there’s already ice formed on your roof, you just have to wait for it to melt,” adds Toscano. “I know a lot of people try to chop it out , but that could cause a lot of damage. Plus they could fall, so I don’t recommend that at all.”

Both Major Hardware in Cedar Grove and the Ace Hardware store in Caldwell typically carry roof rakes, but they have been selling out as fast as they get delivered. When you go to the store, you might also want to pick up a few rolls of insulation. Toscano notes that, if your attic is well-insulated, it will keep the heat in your home from rising and melting the snow outside.

First, the big December 25 storm started bowing down some branches. Then the small wet snow added a lot of visual sagging. The more recent ice and yesterday’s wet snow has caused our worry choo-choo  to almost leave its tracks! We can see limbs stuck to the ground with just their tips sticking up through the snow as if calling for a helping hand. We can see clear into the center of some shrubs in a way that gives us chills. Then there are the shrubs that have been completely flattened to the ground, appearing to be held there as if by some alien force.

We say “oh dear”, “oh no”, “oh my this can’t be right, this can’t be good”, “I need to do something”. Guess what! Here is what you should do: Nothing. That is not a typo. It is what you should do: Nothing.

Shrubs will slowly unstick themselves as the snow melts. That means slowly, by themselves. Do not try to help by prying, picking, pushing or pulling them. The shrub does not need your help, especially when your “help” is going to split the limb or snap it in half.

I know it’s hard, and you will make some mistakes. You will say, “oh this one is almost loose. I’ll be gentle, really I will.” Not gentle enough were you? It broke didn’t it? It bled sap for weeks, making you feel its quiet reproach every time you saw it.

Now you may wonder how I knew exactly what you should do. Well, there isn’t any need to get into details but really it is best to do nothing. Your shrubs will love you for it.

Verona resident Marjorie Williams is a professional gardener, garden coach and horticulturist. She has a diploma from The New York Botanical Gardens School of Professional Horticulture.

We don’t know (or care) what the National Weather Service says about this latest snowfall. Our neighbor Carmen Quagliata stuck a yardstick into the snow this morning by his front door and measured 13 1/2 inches. But his wife Palma Quagliata insists we need to add 2 inches to that because that’s what she shoveled away yesterday afternoon.

So take a break and e-mail your snowpile pics. The hat has bright orange writing on it, which means you can be easily spotted in a drift.