A rising river. Home evacuations. Falling trees. Street closures.
Morristown’s emergency command post at town hall was a busy place at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday as Hurricane Irene churned up the coast.
By that time, Morristown already had received more than five inches of rain and a wind gust of 33 mph. More than 300 local customers lost electricity, estimated Jersey Central Power & Light.
No injuries were reported, however. Mayor Tim Dougherty urged residents to beware of toppling trees as the ground becomes over-saturated.
A flood warning was issued overnight, to go with a tornado watch and a tropical storm warning. Winds could gust to 55 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The command center was staffed by police, firefighters, EMS volunteers and public works officials.
READ MORE ABOUT HURRICANE IRENE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPDATES
To all the Town Employees and Volunteers –
Thank you for helping everyone during this storm! Big shout out to the DPW and the Tree Crew – they have been doing a great job in really challenging condition!!!
Great work guys. I saw the video. We heard reports of major flooding. I am in Fort Myers, FL at the moment on a trip that was planned months ago and live on Aspen Way most of the time. Stay safe and keep reporting. Thanks.
Peter