As of 9:15 this morning 50 to 55% of Verona is still without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, down from 85%. Verona’s emergency management director, Jeff Hayes, has communicated this information to PSE&G and said he has expressed his “displeasure” at the level of the outage that remains six days after the storm.
“I’ve lived in town my whole life,” said a visibly frustrated Hayes. “I’m going to get its electricity back.”
According to Hayes, PSE&G is aware of what he termed “priority spots”, which include F.N. Brown elementary school, the wastewater treatment plant and the Verona Community Center Building at 880 Bloomfield Avenue, which is important because it houses a firehouse and a cell phone tower.
As of this morning, power has been fully restored to Forest Avenue elementary school and partially restored at H.W. Whitehorne Middle School, which bodes well for getting the public schools open tomorrow. Power is also back at the Hillwood senior citizens building and at Claridge II, one of the two large condominium towers on Verona’s eastern ridge.
Town Manager Joe Martin praised Rescue Squad President Sue DeWitt for devising a plan to supply generators to several families with what he termed major medical needs. Verona also sent a fire truck and six firemen to Ocean County on Friday night to aid with search and rescue efforts there. Hayes said that while there have been many calls to 911 from residents concerned about carbon monoxide levels from their generators, there have been no serious injuries or human fatalities in town as a result of the storm. One deer was killed by a falling tree on Derwent.
Hayes said that Verona has been able to secure enough diesel fuel to keep the wastewater treatment plant operating, which has prevented the release of raw sewage into the Peckman, a Passaic River tributary. Hayes said that it takes 500 gallons of diesel a day to run the plant. The town is waiting for a new diesel delivery and has enough fuel at its Ozone Avenue pumps to run town emergency vehicles and clean-up crews.
“We have gas for the chain saws to take the trees down so that PSE&G can put the poles up,” said Hayes.
When those poles will be up and powering Verona is still anybody’s guess, including Hayes’. “I’m not telling them [residents] anything because I can’t get valid answers out of PSE&G,” he said. Wires have been restored on Depot Street and Park Avenue, but Hayes said they have not been turned on. The Verona Police Department sent out a Nixle message this morning asking residents to not call to ask when their power will be turned back on because the police don’t know and it is affecting their ability to handle emergency calls. Police Chief Doug Huber noted that the department has had to put seven officers on overtime to manage the lines at gas stations.
One of the keys to getting full power back in Verona may be what Hayes called “Circuit 42”, a trunk feeder out of a PSE&G power substation in West Caldwell. It has been turned off because PSE&G crews cannot work while it is on. “When it is turned on it will bring a large customer base in west Essex back online,” Hayes said.
The town will have another emergency services update this afternoon.
Virginia – thanks for all the info. You’ve been SUCH a huge help for so many by keeping us informed.