CRANBURY: Sandy strikes Cranbury

By Kaitlyn Kanzler, Special Writer
CRANBURY – Hurricane Sandy left its mark on Cranbury, downing trees and taking out power to most residents.
According to Cranbury Township mayor, David Cook, the town’s primary problem is limited to the electricity being out due to falling trees.
An estimated 500 homes were without power since Monday, but the developments of Shadow Oaks and Cranbury Green retained their electricity throughout the storm.
"(There’s) probably at least 40 trees of any significant size, 50 feet or more in height (that fell)," Mayor Cook said.
According to Mayor Cook, there are a large amount of broken branches and tree limbs throughout the town.
"We had some (fallen trees) on North Main Street (Monday night) and that’s actually what took the power out," Mayor Cook said.
According to the mayor, the Public Works Department was able to clear away the tree on North Main Street, but there were still trees blocking the roads on Maplewood Avenue, Cranbury Neck Road, and South Main Street, which were removed Wednesday.
The workers were waiting for PSE&G to come out and make sure that the fallen trees were not on any live wires.
According to Mayor Cook, the power went out around 4:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon.
While flooding was not an issue like it was during Hurricane Irene last August, several homes had tree damage. Mayor Cook said he saw a tree that had fallen on a house on Scott Avenue, but the only damage appeared to be the roof of the house being scuffed up.
There was a report of the smell of natural gas near Teddy’s Lunchonette on North Main Street, which the township had some concerns about, Mayor Cook said.
Despite the concern about natual gas leaks, there were no fires reported to the township in the wake of the storm.
Mayor Cook does not believe that the township will need any state aid for Hurricane Sandy. The only funding they would need would be to cover the cost of tree removal.
"Unlike flooding, trees and the like don’t create the same scale of damage, so I think we’re relatively OK there."
According to Mayor Cook, the fire department received at least 30 calls Monday night, which were responded to in series.
"What was happening for us was that the police, public works, and the fire department stayed out on the road and kept going from call to call," Mayor Cook said.
According to Mayor Cook, there was a three-hour period when the police and public works were pulled from constant patrolling due to increasingly dangerous conditions.
"Branches were hitting their cars and trees were coming down at a level where it was safer to not go down on the roads than to go out on the roads," Mayor Cook said.
According to the mayor, while there was no official order for the roads to be shut down, by 7 p.m. many of the roads were closed due to tree damage. North Main Street had been closed around 4:15 p.m. due to tree damage.
According to Mayor Cook the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and PSE&G have been readily available and that he has been able to get in touch with the utility when necessary.
"The township residents have been great in light of a severe storn that I don’t think anyone has seen in our lifetimes," Mayor Cook said. "I (also) want to thank the emergency services for a spectacular job."
Mayor Cook advises that people stay away from any fallen wires in case they are live. He encourages residents to call the non-emergency police number if they need help. He also suggests that residents try to conserve water as many pump stations for water infrastructure are down due to loss of power.
For those who need help, call the Cranbury Township Police Department’s non-emergency number is (609) 395-0031.