By Amy Batista, Special Writer
CRANBURY — Neighbors, Keith Shaw and Brian Wiseman, set up three generators and more than 5,000 feet of extension cords to power 18 neighbors’ homes during Hurricane Sandy.
”One of my neighbors and very good friends, Brian Wiseman had three generators that he uses for his work,” said Keith Shaw in an email on Nov. 5. “I have thousands of feet of extension cords that I use for our Christmas Display, so between the two of us we had everything we needed to put together a neighborhood energy grid.”
Although not classified as an official hurricane by the National Weather Service when the storm hit the Garden State Oct. 29, the rain and wind brought down hundreds of trees and knocked out power to millions throughout the northeast.
Mr. Shaw said the day after the storm, about 10 of his neighbors and friends spent the day going throughout the neighborhood cut ting down trees that had fallen.
”That night, after a long day of helping out throughout or neighborhood about 20 neighbors came to my house to watch the aftermath on TV,” Mr. Shaw said. “After hearing the stores on the news, seeing it live on TV was heartbreaking.”
In the wake of the devastating storm, the neighbors found satisfaction in helping each other through such a trying time.
”All the neighbors did their part to pitch in,” said Brian Wiseman in an email on Nov. 5. “To me and at least a couple of the other people involved, we were admittedly having a good time putting our various skills to use in support of each other, and are left with many fond memories.”
Mr. Shaw described the “Superstorm Sandy” experience for his family and impact it had on his two young sons.
”Having lost power on Monday at 4 p.m., Sandy hit us early,” Mr. Shaw said. “Not really knowing what to expect Alexander, my seven-year-old, and Kristopher, my five-year-old, were very brave thought-out the day and night. Thankfully we did have a generator provided by Brian which kept our refrigerator going and provided us with some light.”
On a personal level, Mr. Shaw, the founder of Planet of Wine in Kearny, said his business was destroyed by the storm and the financial impact it left on his family right now is being felt.
”My company which is based in Kearny, had its warehouse and offices completely destroyed putting us out of business for many weeks,” Mr. Shaw said. “I am in the wine business so as you can imagine this is the busiest two months of the year so the storm will most certainly affect my family financially.”
Deputy Mayor, Glenn Johnson, spoke on behalf of Mayor David Cook in an email on Nov. 6 and provided an update on the town.
”Only a small number of homes are still without electricity,” Mr. Johnson. “They are clustered at the eastern end of Evans Drive, the eastern end of Brainerd Drive, and Park Place West and Park Place East. These areas will require telephone pole replacement in order to restore the electricity.”
According to Mr. Johnson, Cranbury has approximately 1,100 homes in which approximately half were without electricity following the storm.
The affected areas included all properties north of the lake and the Evans Tract and Wynnewood neighborhoods.
Areas where electricity service was never interrupted during Sandy included the Cranbury Green, Four Seasons, Shadow Oaks, and Liedtke Drive neighborhoods. These are the neighborhoods in town that have underground utilities, officials said.
”Sandy’s impact was primarily in the loss of electricity and downed trees,” Mr. Johnson said. “We did not experience flooding from Brainerd Lake or any of the creeks or rivers. We experienced no loss of life.”
According to Committee Member Jay Taylor and Office of Emergency Management Liaison, his power went out in the early evening on Monday after the power line on North Main went down.
Mr. Taylor’s daughter, Gracie, is three-years-old and was at his parent’s house at the time they lost power in his house.
”We didn’t truly understand how the concept of lost power affected Gracie until power returned Saturday night,” said Jay Taylor. “That is when Gracie ran to each room turning the wall switch on, throwing her arms up and screaming like a mad scientist we have power. Her mission was not accomplished until every light in the house came on.”
According to Mr. Johnson, the biggest challenge he saw during Sandy was communicating with the residents.
”With so much of the town without electricity and telephone and Internet access interrupted, this was a real problem,” Mr. Johnson said. “We had information posted to the Township’s website. The Board of Education has the ability to send out telephone and email messages to every parent in Cranbury, and they helped the Township to get information out.”
According to Mr. Johnson, Dan Mulligan used social media to get information out to the residents asking them to call him.
”At one point Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts went door-to-door in the neighborhoods without electricity and distributed leaflets explaining that the Presbyterian Church had opened their Fellowship Hall as a place where people could get warm, get something to eat, and charge electronic devices,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. Johnson compared Hurricane Sandy to Hurricane Irene in August 2011, and how they impacted the town.
”We lost electricity during Sandy but not Irene,” Mr. Johnson said. “We had substantial loss of trees during Sandy but less so during Irene. We had flooding during Irene but not Sandy.”
For Mr. Johnson, the force of the wind Sandy and the damage it caused, stands out the most in his mind.
”The force of the wind and its ability to bring down so many trees,” Mr. Johnson said.
Cranbury Volunteer Fire Company Fire Chief Michael Kervan commented on how the fire department was busy during the storm running calls, which were primarily for wires, or down trees.
”The past week the Fire Company has responded to 49 calls,” said Chief Michael Kervan of the Cranbury Volunteer Fire Company. “During the brunt of the storm, most of our calls were for wires or trees down, and a few calls for fire alarm activation’s. Other calls during the week were storm related such as a gas leak, and smoke and carbon dioxide alarms.”
Mr. Kervan said that he knew the community would unite during the storm and neighbors would help neighbors.
”We also knew if there was a problem Cranbury is a great community and with so many great neighbors we knew there would be someone to help close by,” Mr. Shaw said. “We found this throughout Cranbury, I heard many stories like ours of neighbors helping neighbors.”
The sense of community also pleased Mr. Taylor.
”I was so proud of our residents and community banding together,” Mr. Taylor said. “I did not receive one compliant, but it felt like the scene in it’s a wonderful life when there was a run on the bank. Residents would come up simply asking if we had an update.”
According to Mr. Johnson, as of Nov. 14, all residents of Cranbury had their electrical service restored.

