We received the following information today from JCP&L regarding
the status of their efforts to restore electrical service to the
residents and businesses in Montville Township:
We are thankful for donations by citizens and local restaurants
businesses of food for those affected by the storm. If you would like
to make such a donation, please coordinate delivery by calling the
Emergency Operations Center at (973) 257-4110 or (973) 257-4300.
Power Restoration: According to a press release from JCP&L,
electrical service has been restored to 40% of their customers who were
affected by Hurricane Sandy Although we have seen some power
restoration throughout some areas of Montville Township, estimates from
JCP&L are indicating that the majority of service restoration will
be completed by November 7, 2012 with customers in the hardest hit areas
the following week. Estimated restoration dates for specific streets
are not yet available but we are hoping for this information soon. Do not call the police about electrical outages. They cannot do anything to restore your power and do not have
any information about when JCP&L will be be working in your
neighborhood. Do not call 9-1-1 except in case of real emergency. Other calls can tie up the phone lines and possibly delay response to life-threatening situation.
Residents should be mindful that JCP&L is responsible for electric
service up to the point where your service begins on your home. If your
electrical service has been affected, you need to have the damage
repaired by a licensed electrician. This must be taken care of before
power can be restored at your home.
Shelter: The comfort centers that have been open are being
consolidated to Montville Township High School, 100 Horseneck Road.
Beginning at 3:00 PM today, residents will have access to men's and
women's shower facilities, heat, electricity, and overnight
accommodations, if needed. If you anticipate spending the night at the
shelter, please bring a sleeping bag, pillows, and any other items of
comfort - cots will be available.
Garbage Collection: Garbage collection scheduled for today (Section
2) was begun; however, the garbage trucks experienced challenges getting
around the Township. If you normally receive garbage collection on
Friday but your garbage was not collected today, please pull your cans
in from the street and place them out again for collection tomorrow,
Saturday, November 3, 2012. The Township's contractor and the Township
are making every effort to collect garbage.
The Montville Township Health Department has canceled the SMAC health clinic scheduled for Saturday, November 3, 2012.
(Thursday, 11/1)
Public Showers - Showers for both men and women will be available at
Montville Township High School, today, from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The
men's and women's locker rooms are located to the right when entering
the High School from the front doors.
Comfort Shelters remain open as described below on the Tuesday, 10/31 update.
There has been some restoration of power in sporadic areas within
Montville Township; however, residents should remain prepared for long
term outages. We do not have any specific information, at this time,
regarding total restoration.
(Wednesday, 10/31)
Garbage collection will take place as scheduled; Section I -
Thursday, November 1, 2012 and Section II - Friday, November 2, 2012.
Due to the severe wide-spread damage caused by Hurricane Sandy
throughout New Jersey, JCP&L has been attempting to complete their
overall evaluation of their utility infrastructure. Montville Township's
electrical substations have been significantly damaged. Currently,
JCP&L is working to bring these substations back online.
Additionally, the Township has also experienced wide spread electrical
infrastructure damage to transformers, power lines, and utility poles.
The damage to the regions electrical delivery infrastructure is severe
and may be out for some time. Resident should be prepared for long term
power outages, potentially 7 to 10 days or longer.
As the temperature begins to drop, residents should be mindful
regarding the use of generators (ensure the exhaust is away from windows
and generators are placed outdoors). Additionally, do not heat your
home with your gas stove and make sure that fire detectors have
batteries that have been recently changed.
(Tuesday, 10/31)
Although the weather is expected to continue clearing tomorrow and
more streets throughout town are being cleared, there are still many
trees, poles and live electrical wires in roadways and yards throughout
the township. You are urged to stay off the roads to allow emergency
services and utility personnel to continue to do their jobs in a safe
environment. Remember also that due to the widespread power outages,
most stores, gas stations and other destinations are still closed. If
you must drive, please do so with extreme caution as most traffic lights
are still not working. Be safe!
The Montville Police Department will be opening comfort stations at
the local firehouses for your convenience. The buildings are equipped
with generators and are capable of providing charging for electronic
equipment. The stations are located at:
- Montville Fire Department Station 1 at 106 Route 202 at Taylortown
Road, Montville from Approximately 10:00 AM, closing at 10:00 PM.
- Towaco Volunteer Fire Department Station 1 at 27 Whitehall Road, Towaco from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM
- Pine Brook Fire Department - Limited overnight accommodations are
available for dire-need residents at Station 1 at 47 Old Bloomfiled
Avenue, Pine Brook
A pet-friendly comfort station will be available at Cedar Hill
School, 46 Pine Brook Road, Towaco. Residents can stay and charge their
devices as well as relax with their pets. All of these stations will
be available today, October 30th, after 2:00pm.
The shelter at the High School has been closed.
All Montville Township schools will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, October 30th.
(Monday, 10/29)
A local State of Emergency has been declared for Montville Township.
Access to roads throughout the Township is restricted to emergency
services personnel. Significant portions of the township are without
electrical service and many streets are blocked by fallen trees, utility
poles and wires. Please stay safe in your homes. Do not call 9-1-1 except in case of real emergency. Other calls can tie up the phone lines and possibly delay response to life-threatening situation. Do not call the police about electrical outages.
They cannot do anything to restore your power and do not have any
information about when JCP&L will be be working in your
neighborhood.
A temporary emergency shelter with limited sleeping facilities has
been opened at the High School. Access to the shelter will be limited
to those whose homes are not habitable due to physical damage related to
the storm.
Montville Township opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at
8:00 pm, Monday, October 29th. It is staffed by representatives of all
of our emergency services. Please continue to call 9-1-1 to report any emergency.
EOC personnel are available to coordinate response to storm-related
situations throughout the township and answer non-emergency,
storm-related questions. Please direct your calls to the appropriate
personnel at the following numbers:
|
Organization |
Phone No |
Functions |
| Emergency Management Coordinator |
(973) 257-4110 |
General storm-related questions |
| Montville Fire Department |
(973) 257-4300 |
Pump-outs, non-emergency fire-related questions |
| Pine Brook Fire Department |
(973) 257-4300 |
Pump-outs, non-emergency fire-related questions |
| Towaco Fire Department |
(973) 257-4300 |
Pump-outs, non-emergency fire-related questions |
| Montville Twp. First Aid Squad |
(973) 257-4300 |
Non-emergency medical questions |
| Montville Twp. Police Department |
(973) 257-4300 |
Non-life-threatening situations
|
In the event of a power outage
please call the Jersey Central Power & Light Outage Reporting Line
(888) 544-4877.
Do not call 9-1-1, the Police Department or the EOC for power
outages. The people there cannot do anything to resolve power outages
and your call could delay their response to true emergencies.
For the safety of their workers, JCP&L has pulled their crews off
of restoration work due to the high winds we are experiencing. If you
experience a power outage, you should not expect the problem to be
resolved until after the storm passes and the crews can resume work.
Garbage collection for Section 2, scheduled for Tuesday, October 30, 2012 has been canceled. The next garbage collection for Section 2 will be Friday, November 2, 2012.
Moving vehicles: Residents of areas that were impacted by flooding
during the storms associated with Hurricane Irene are invited to move
any vehicles from flood prone areas to the Woodmont Elementary School
parking lot on Woodmont Road. If you choose to move a vehicle to
Woodmont School, it MUST be removed prior to school resuming.
(Sunday, 10/28)
The Montville Township Public Schools will be closed on Monday,
October 29th and Tuesday, October 30th. The M.E.D.L.C. program will also
be closed on Monday. M.E.D.L.C. may also close on Tuesday if the state
of emergency continues until then.
The Township Office of Emergency Management has issued the following alert regarding traffic and parking in Pine Brook:
The impending weather conditions impose an imminent hazard to
traffic and emergency response. In order to maintain transportation
rights-of-way that allow emergency traffic to flow, the Montville Police
will utilize
predetermined detour routes around the flood-prone areas of Changebridge
Road, should it become necessary. Parking on the following streets will
be
prohibited beginning at 9:00am on Monday October 29, 2012 until further
notice:
- Gathering Road, from Changebridge
to Konner Ave.
- Konner Ave. from Gathering Road to Woodmont Road
- Woodmont Road,
the entire length.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and
thank you for your cooperation.
The Police Department and Office of Emergency Management are making
use of the Nixle Connect service to broadcast alert messages to
interested
citizens. Nixle Connect is a free service that allows public safety
agencies to send warnings, alerts and informational messages via text
message, e-mail, mobile app or your web browser. You can sign up by
texting your zip code to 888777 or by accessing Nixle's website at www.nixle.com. Additional details are available in Nixle's "Why Nixle for Citizens" borchure.
We have confirmed with Suburban Disposal, Inc., the township's solid
waste collection contractor, that they intend to collect garbage and
recycling this week according to their normal schedule. If weather
conditions make that impossible, there will be a notification posted
here.
(Saturday, 10/27)
Governor Chris Christie has issued an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency in New Jersey in preparation for the coming storm.
In coordination with the state Department of Environmental
Protection, the operators of several reservoirs, including the Boonton
Reservoir, have been releasing water since Friday to reduce the
possibility of flooding as a result of the expected heavy rains.
The Township's Department of Public Works has placed a supply of
sandbags, along with a truckload of sand at the parking lot of
Manchester Park (33A Buckingham Circle, Pine Brook). Township residents
in areas prone to flooding should feel free to take advantage of these
supplies to help minimize the damage of potential flooding.
(Friday, 10/26)
The Township
of Montville, including
the Police Department, Office of Emergency Management, Fire Departments, First
Aid Squad and Department of Public Works have begun to prepare for the
storm. Current forecast models indicate Sandy
may make landfall on the eastern seaboard, between Delaware
and Maine. At
this time, the New Jersey
is in the center of the projected path.
Hurricanes often result in extensive damage to power lines and poles and may
result in power outages that can last for days. At times, Montville Township
experiences power failures during regular storms, so residents should be
prepared for large scale power outages. If your power should go out,
please call the JCP&L Outage Reporting Line at (888) 544-4877. Please
do not call 9-1-1 or the Police Department for power outages as they can do
nothing about outages and you may delay their ability to respond to true
emergencies.
Remember, the 9-1-1 system is for emergencies
only! For general inquiries, information or to report property
damage, contact the Police Department at 973-257-4300. If you sustain
property damage and need a police report, or are in need of a 'pump out' due to
flooding, please refrain from contacting the Police Department and Fire
Departments during the height of the storm.
Specific Areas of Concern
The primary areas of concern for Township residents involve power
outages,
flooding, and high winds. Storm history indicates Sandy is producing
significant amounts of
rain. Depending on the path of the storm, this may cause river and
low-lying area flooding. Common flooding areas include the Hatfield
Creek
region, including Sheffield, Lancaster, Manchester, Normandy,
Walnut, Crescent, Parkway, Stiles, Bader, Barnett, River, and
Changebridge
Roads. Additionally, Kramer, Riverside,
and Bloomfield Ave.
may see flooding.
Preparedness
Residents are advised to prepare for the arrival of the storm
immediately. At a minimum, essential items like water, nonperishable
food, batteries, flashlights, battery operated radios and a vehicle filled with
gasoline should be on hand or available. If you have a generator or pump,
make sure it is fueled and in working order. Lastly, any lawn furniture
or loose items should be secured as much as possible. Storm updates will be posted on this site as they become
available.
Additional information on preparedness can be found through the State of New Jersey's Office of
Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Administration
(FEMA):
New Jersey OEM: Plan and Prepare
FEMA - Are You Ready - Hurricanes
FEMA
- Are You Ready - Floods
