Residents in Morristown’s Second Ward, without electricity since the weekend snowstorm, got courtesy visits on Tuesday from Mayor Tim Dougherty, police, and officials from other town agencies.
Officials discovered a diabetic resident with a medical device that needed recharging, the Mayor said. Police brought the instrument to the fire station to restore its battery, he said.
Nearly 7,000 Greater Morristown customers remained without power on Tuesday; another 2,500 in Morris Plains were in the same boat, according to Jersey Central Power & Light.
Morristown officials visited the Manahan Village apartments in the early afternoon. Residents there were holding up well, given the circumstances, the Mayor said. But many were upset about spoiled food in their refrigerators, he said, and others reported that they were unable to find or afford rooms in area hotels.
An emergency shelter will continue to operate in the seniors center on the third floor of Morristown town hall, the Mayor said. It can accommodate up to 50 people overnight. Residents also can go there just to warm up or to recharge cell phones and laptop computers.
Marion Sally, executive director of the Morristown Housing Authority, joined the Mayor on Tuesday’s outreach mission. The Mayor said he has begun conversations with her about how to provide backup heat at the town’s federal subsidized public housing facilities during the winter.
“There has to be some sort of way to get them a different heat source,” said the Mayor, asserting that his administration will explore whether the town can mandate a backup system for power outages.
As for the performance of JCP&L, which was the target of withering criticism after Tropical Storm Irene, the Mayor said he was “a little frustrated.”
“I think communication (from the utility) was a little better during Irene. I was in contact with them every couple of hours. Now, you can go quite a while without hearing anything,” said the Mayor, echoing sentiments voiced by mayors in Madison and Summit.
But like Irene, this snowstorm caused damage more widespread than anyone anticipated, Mayor Dougherty said. Trees and power lines are down across northern New Jersey.
“I’ll hold my judgment until all the power is back up,” he said. “I’m asking people to be a little more patient. We’re putting as much pressure on JCP&L as we can.”
JCP&L has vowed to restore power to 95 percent of its affected customers by Thursday, and to everyone by Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT THE OCTOBER SNOWSTORM
READ MORE ABOUT TROPICAL STORM IRENE
What an idea for votes. Let me go down & see about the latino & black folks in the Second Ward Beverly Apts & Manahan Village. Let me take other depts from the town to show my interest. What I’d like to know is… did Tim speak w/the owners of the Beverly Apts who own so much, including restaurants to feed the tenants who pay rent. Did Tim or anyone get a generator for the Manahan Village Resident Center where folks could go for warmth and hot food. There should be a back-up generator anyway for that beautiful center. When was the call for residents to work w/the town to get streets cleaned up, getting the fallen trees out the roads picked up. During an emergency, get it done by any means necessary. By the way, what about other streets in other wards? It’s all common sense. No Einstein theory’s needed. Believe it or not you just gotta know how to run a town.