MONROE: Thousands still without power a week after Sandy

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   MONROE – Thousands still remain without power nine days after “Superstorm” Sandy struck Oct. 29.
   According to Township Engineer and Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Ernest Fiest, the Jersey Central Power &Light website listed approximately 2,300 township customers still without power some nine days after the storm.
   During Hurricane Sandy, the entire town lost power and has been working to restore it to more than 20,000 residents which was attributed to the strong winds knocking down utility poles.
   ”Monroe was fortunate to not have experienced any flooding, however, the strong winds took down trees and utility poles across the township leading to complete loss of power to all our residents,” Mr. Feist said.
   Mayor Richard Pucci thanked his staff and OEM for their handling “all types of emergencies” during the storm
   ”The Office of Emergency Management, headed by Mr. Feist and Acting Police Chief (Michael) Lloyd, did a tremendous job in preparing for Hurricane Sandy and handling all types of emergencies throughout,” said Mayor Pucci in an email on Nov. 7.
   ”Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton’s efforts were also Herculean,” Mayor Pucci said. “As we have come to expect in township emergencies, the public works and utility employees and our police, fire and first aid services were exemplary.”
   While some residents appreciated the township and its efforts during the storms, others did not. Both expressed their respective views through social media.
   ”Thanks Monroe Township Office of Emergency Management for the information that was provided,” posted Owen Moskowitz on the Monroe Township Office of Emergency Management Facebook page Sunday. “Keep up the great work. This makes me feel proud to live in Monroe.”
   ”This update, like all your updates throughout this difficult time, is fantastic,” posted Neel Shah on Sunday. “Even though I know that most (if not all) of this is out of your control and you are occasionally being ‘shot’ as the messenger, please keep up the great job keeping us informed.”
   Other residents disagreed and felt forgotten.
   ”We are on Englishtown Road, still Monroe. Are we forgotten?” posted Jennifer Sharar DePreta on Monday. “There are no downed wires or trees over here. What is taking so long (to restore power)? I have a 3 ½-year-old, a 1 ½-year-old and (I) am nine months pregnant. This has been so hard for us. (This is the) second time in two years. We were flooded by Irene and now this. Last year we were told ‘we didn’t even know you we’re there’, regarding rescue. That’s great. Please don’t forget us again.”
   For resident Carol Slack, she wants residents in Monroe to also be taken care of and thought of just as much by the mayor and Gov. Chris Christie, who keeps focusing on the Jersey Shore.
   ”What we need is to get together and demand a meeting with this mayor and have it televised,” posted Ms. Slack on the Monroe Township Office of Emergency Facebook page.
   ”Call the governor’s office and have him down here to see the faces of the people of New Jersey, not a Ferris wheel in the ocean reminding some of their childhood,” Ms. Slack posted. “We need a class action against the utilities and Monroe (township) as they take a piece of the action every time you pay your bill, they are also responsible.
   Many residents on the Facebook page raised concerns over the senior citizens and restoring power to those communities.
   ”We really need better communication to know what is happening,” posted Marilyn Littman. “Why are adult communities not getting priority. Many residents have needs and nowhere to go. Where is our mayor? Why isn’t the township’s web site updated? This is a hard site to find, especially for those not overly familiar with it.”
   ”The fact that 4,000 households were still without electricity seven days after the storm has been very frustrating,” Mayor Pucci said. “JCP&L is solely responsible for restoring electric in the township and having thousands of homeowners, many of whom are seniors, without electricity for over a week is unacceptable. They must produce better service for our residents.”
   Mr. Feist said officials spoke with JCP&L on Tuesday morning following the storm to get updates on the situation.
   ”JCP&L reported to Monroe officials that on Tuesday morning after the storm 100 percent of customers in Monroe were without power,” Mr. Feist said. “That number is closer to 20,000.”
   The Department of Public Works has been working too during the storm and after to clean up and remove fallen trees from municipal and county roads, according to Mr. Feist.
   ”By Tuesday evening, they had cleared all fallen trees that did not involve a JCP&L wire or pole,” Mr. Feist said. “Only JCP&L and their contractors can remove them.”
   According to Acting Chief of Police Lloyd, A power surge caused the 911 system to go down for some time.
   ”All calls were immediately routed to our backup, who in turn, advised us via the non-emergency phone lines,” said Acting Chief Lloyd.
   According to Acting Chief Lloyd, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5, the police department’s communication center handled approximately 7,600 calls including emergencies and non-emergencies.
   ”During the same time period, police responded to 1,565 calls, EMS to 303 calls and fire to 246 calls,” Acting Chief Lloyd said. “Police provided some storm specific services (in addition to the normal calls for service) such as blocking and securing roadways, traffic signal control, welfare checks, shelter security, increased patrol’s in areas most affected.”
   ”Power went out on Monday and returned on (the next) Sunday,” said Rochelle Fennell of Monroe. “My parents, also residents of Monroe, (had) power was restored on Thursday so we were able to stay with them for a few days,. So thankful to the utility workers from in and out of state and law enforcement working countless hours away from their own families in order to help get the town back on track.”
   ”It was the worst storm we had ever seen,” said Chrissy Skurbe. “We suffered just a little damage to our house in Monroe but lost our beach house in Point Pleasant.”
   According to Ms. Skurbe, President of the Oak Tree-Applegarth PTA, the organization will be working with the schools to raise money for the American Red Cross.
   ”We are holding a hot pretzel sale at Applegarth to raise money for the Red Cross,” Ms. Skurbe said.
   The town is back up and functioning “normally” exception for the area of customers who are without power.
   ”With the exception of approximately 2,300 customers awaiting power restoration, we are back to normal operations,” Mr. Feist said. “The last resident left the emergency medical shelter this morning.”
   Visit the Monroe Township Office of Emergency Management Facebook page for up-to-date information or the township website at www.monroetwp.com.