Gov. Chris Christie’s family recalls tragic day during Sept. 11 memorial visit

Mary Pat Christie worked two blocks from the twin towers, and their children had friends who lost parents on 9/11

Gov. Chris Christie’s family recalls tragic day during Sept. 11 memorial visit

Mary Pat Christie worked two blocks from the twin towers, and their children had friends who lost parents on 9/11

Gov. Chris Christie’s family recalls tragic day during Sept. 11 memorial visit

Mary Pat Christie worked two blocks from the twin towers, and their children had friends who lost parents on 9/11

Video: JCP&L president says utility doing great job post-Irene

Here is video of Wednesday’s press conference with JCP&L President Don Lynch. He spoke for about 20 minutes.

While acknowledging the frustrations of Greater Morristown residents who have been without electricity since Tropical Storm Irene last weekend, the executive emphasized the enormity of the storm and praised efforts by employees to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers across New Jersey.

The temporary loss of the flooded Ridgedale Avenue substation, which serves Morristown and Morris Township, is posing special challenges that he described.

Frankly, news was breaking so fast and furious on Wednesday that we have not had time to fully parse Don’s comments. Or for that matter, to digest everything in the next video, which features comments by Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty and Morris Township Mayor H. Scott Rosenbush.

But the power outages are of such intense interest that we figured some folks might want to watch these videos, which are presented in their entirety.

A guide to Don Lynch’s talk:

0:16 The worst storm in recent memory…

0:26 Extent of damage from Irene

0:35 Restored 500,000 customers so far in NJ

1:00 Understand and appreciate public frustration…doing everything we possibly can

1:50 Heavy flooding, trees down, roads impassable, safety concerns

3:23 Irene by the numbers: Incidents, repairs crews, etc.

4:00 Beware of downed wires

4:27 Working around the clock

Q & A

4:50 Best guess when Greater Morristown back on line?

Morristown substation…completely flooded…in 35 years with company never seen flooding like this. We have tried to engineer new solutions… We picked up 90 percent of customers yesterday through new solutions… will hopefully pick up the rest of those customers today.

5:45 Reports that pumps at substation not turned on?

Have not heard that… we installed flood walls years ago… flooding overcame flood walls… believe debris dammed up the river. If we had pumps in there, would not have handled water…four or five feet of water in substation.

6:33 What caused Morristown Medical Center to go offline Wednesday morning?

If there was issue there, we’ll address it, I’ll look into it…sometimes you have to take circuits out to energize another piece of it… part of restoration process.

7:42 What’s that map behind you?

JCP&L service territory…

8:22 When you refer to “Morristown” (in outage maps) does that include Morris Township?

Doesn’t have numbers…

9:22 Can you explain disparity between outage numbers from JCP&L online maps and company spokespersons?

Not aware of discrepancies… we have complex computer models… driven by people calling in to report outages

10:00 Do you intend to build higher flood walls for substation?

We’ll have to take a look at that… this higher flood level than ever experienced…

10:24 Is this a good place for a substation?

Think that location  great location

11:05 Explain who is out of power, and why: Substation vs. downed lines.

Lot of rain preceded storm…another 10 inches…no place for it to go. Lot of trees fall over…taking down poles and wires.

12:18 Can you improve communications with local officials; residents want better info?

We’ve been issuing press releases regularly….trying to get more detailed customers counts out…It’s a bit challenging… our network very complicated and very fluid…lot of this is innovative and creative…difficult to determine exactly which street is out and when they’re going to come in… we understand frustration, everyone wants more specific details… but with volume of customers a bit of a challenge. As get down to smaller numbers will be easier.

14:00 When will different counties–especially Morris–be fully restored?

Full restoration for majority customers by the end of the week….a few might be into the weekend.  Working all across entire territory restoring where we can…

15:10 Worst-case scenarios?  Cried wolf about restoration estimates?

Tried to avoid estimates… we really didn’t know. From beginning we said multiple-day storm… a fluid situation… over 400 hazard and damage assessors inspecting lines…complicated process…this is state of emergency…

19:00 Will these measures leave us better protected if Hurricane Katia strikes next month?

Worst storm ever hit us… all utilities on east coast same damage…we do lot to fortify our system during year… a good system. A hurricane of this magnitude challenges all utlities… I believe we’re doing a great job right now…500,000 restored in two days… pretty proud of our employees

READ MORE ABOUT IRENE

Exploding manhole cover in Morristown injures woman

Google MapsA map view of South and James streets in Morristown, where an exploding manhole cover injured a woman today. MORRISTOWN — A female motorist was burned by steam released in a manhole explosion on South Street in Morristown, officials...

Exploding manhole cover in Morristown injures woman

Google MapsA map view of South and James streets in Morristown, where an exploding manhole cover injured a woman today. MORRISTOWN — A female motorist was burned by steam released in a manhole explosion on South Street in Morristown, officials...

Exploding manhole cover in Morristown injures woman

Google MapsA map view of South and James streets in Morristown, where an exploding manhole cover injured a woman today. MORRISTOWN — A female motorist was burned by steam released in a manhole explosion on South Street in Morristown, officials...

Morristown could have it a lot worse: Irene’s quiet fury

By Barbara Snyder

The New York Metro area collectively breathed a sigh of relief as Irene passed by; she’d been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, and then to a Tropical Storm, as she blew through our region – and we thought we’d caught a break.

Then the waters rushed in, and everything changed.

Flash flooding hit several Morris County towns.

Entire towns in the Catskills have been washed away.

Parts of several major New Jersey highways have collapsed, and other roads and bridges are under repair.

Downtown Paterson was inundated, as the Wall Street Journal reports in its article “Frustration’ in Paterson”:

PATERSON, N.J.—While most of New Jersey cleans up in the wake of the record floods brought by Tropical Storm Irene, much of the city of Paterson is fighting back floodwaters.

Streets throughout the downtown area were inaccessible on Wednesday, filled with overflow from the Passaic River. Traffic was snarled and only two of the city’s 11 bridges were open as workers inspect for damage.

Mayor Jeffrey Jones said more than 1,500 people have been displaced…The fire department performed more than 500 rescues as water rushed into low-lying areas, according to officials. The mayor hopes to open the affected parts of the city by Thursday morning.

The Passaic River in Paterson – once the economic lifeblood of this former mill town – is at a 100-year high, by some accounts. President Obama plans a trip to the city on Sunday.

In Vermont, the National Guard is airlifting supplies to towns cut off by floodwaters:

Across the state of Vermont, 260 roads and 30 bridges have been washed away by almost a foot of rain.

Manville, New Jersey, was devastated by the storm, as the Star-Ledger reports:

Residents in flood-pounded Manville continued to dig through their homes today to salvage what they could from their once-submerged homes.

Many roads are lined with piles of scrapped drywall, furniture, appliances and television sets. A red layer of dried mud covers the streets and even some of the plant life next to the Raritan River.

Hurricane Irene cleanup and recovery update in towns across N.J.

In some towns across New Jersey, today was cleanup day and life slowly returned to normal. In other towns, however, the floodwaters continued to rise and flow onto streets and into houses. Here's a look at the latest developments...

Hurricane Irene cleanup and recovery update in towns across N.J.

In some towns across New Jersey, today was cleanup day and life slowly returned to normal. In other towns, however, the floodwaters continued to rise and flow onto streets and into houses. Here's a look at the latest developments...

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