SPRINGFIELD: Township evaluates damage from Sandy

POLICE: Sandy brought down 400 to 500 trees in Springfield

By David Kilby, Special Writer
SPRINGFIELD ― Facing a township that was still about half out of power last Thursday, the Springfield Township Council took time during its meeting to discuss the damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Chief Eric Trout reported to the council that police and fire personnel did all they could with the limited resources of a small rural community. Most roads were blocked by downed trees, he said, so there was only so much they could do.

The township used all of its many resources and tried to get extra gasoline, generators and other necessities from the state and county, but state and county resources were all deployed, Chief Trout said.

The township was in constant contact with Jersey Central Power and Light and PSE&G throughout the storm and its aftermath to get the status on power restoration in the township. Half of the township is powered by JCP&L and the other half by PSE&G, so at times there were residents who had no power while their neighbors did.

At the height of the storm, police and fire personnel were out removing trees that fell onto the road while other trees were falling around them, Mr. Trout said. He said about 400 to 500 trees came down on the roads of Springfield.

He estimated that clean up from the hurricane will take about a month. Clearing out debris from storm drains may be the longest task, he said.

There was no damage to infrastructure, and the municipal building was running off a generator a few days after the hurricane.

“Considering the resources we have, I think we fared fairly well,” Chief Trout said. But he and the council are not taking this experience lightly, and they discussed being more prepared for an equally devastating storm in the near future, since such storms seem to be becoming more of a trend.

“Once every 100 years, they say. They just keep coming every year,” Councilman Anthony Marinello said.

Chief Trout said the township could use more stop signs, road closure signs and barricades, since they didn’t have enough for closing all the roads they had to close.

“There’s no saying an ice storm this year can’t have the same effect,” he said.

The council also discussed the need for a place where residents can stay as they wait to be taken to county shelters.

At the meeting Nov. 1, Mayor Denis McDaniel estimated that power would be out for seven to 10 days after the hurricane.

“This is more like Katrina than Irene in terms of magnitude,” Mayor McDaniel said.

“I would have been more content if the county and (Department of Transportation) were more responsive to our needs,” Chief Trout said, “but I understand when they say all their resources have been deployed.”

Mayor McDaniel suggested putting more up-to-date information on the town website to keep people informed, noting that even though many people don’t have electricity after big storms many people do have smartphones.

Mr. Marinello agreed that the township should provide multiple avenues for receiving notifications in times of crisis like Hurricane Sandy and the days after.

As of Monday afternoon, about five percent of residents in Springfield were still out of power, Mayor McDaniel said.